The Kirinyaga County Government has commenced a major operation to remove all illegal structure erected on drainage system as part of ongoing efforts to mitigate flooding ahead of the expected rains.
The exercise targeting all major towns involves excavation and clearance of the drains, restoring natural waterways and educating residents about flood risks among others.
The operation involving business community leaders, enforcement officers and the police, commenced early Thursday at Kagio town with demolition of structure built on top or along the drainage system.
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Environment, Energy, Climate Change, Natural Resource, Water and Irrigation James Mutugi, said the illegal structure have been the cause of perennial flooding witnessed in the town during rainy season.
“We are here today to make sure that we clear our drainage system in preparedness for the rain season. During the rains, this town experiences a lot of floods, and as you can see, most of the structures have been built on the drainage system. There is no way we can stop flooding if the drainage canals are blocked,” Mutugi said.
Mutugi said the County Government had issued vacate notices to all traders who have erected structures on top of storm water drainage system and a few had not complied at the expiry of the notices.
“We issued two weeks notices to all who had built structures on the drainage system for them to remove and about 90 percent of them have complied. We are asking residents to avoid putting up structures along the drainage system so that we can keep our towns clean and stop flooding,” he added.
The CECM said apart from blocking the drainage system, the mushrooming of structures had made it difficult for proper cleaning of the town.
He said with the start of the October rains, the County Government has intensified efforts to unblock all the drainage systems so as to ensure there is free flow of storm water.
Mutugi said removal of the illegal structures had been reached following a meeting between the County Government and officials of the Kagio business community lobby.
He further cautioned property owners against connecting their sewer lines to the storm water drainage system said the drains are exclusively meant for rainwater.
“We are putting on notice those who direct wastewater into the drainage system. The drainage is meant for storm water, not sewage. Every building should have a functional waste disposal mechanism,” he said.
The CECM said similar operations will be rolled out in other major towns across County as part of a broader environmental management and climate resilience initiative.
“This exercise is being extended to all towns within Kirinyaga. We urge residents to cooperate so that we can make our county clean, flood-free, and environmentally safe,” Mutugi disclosed.
