Zimpapers Logo

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
WITH the country expecting to experience floods and potential cyclones during the rainy season, the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has acquired 18 drones for surveillance and reaching flood hit areas countrywide.

This is new technology comes at a time when the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has warned of destructive heavy rains and flooding, with cyclones being a possibility.

Normal to above normal rainfalls are projected during the 2021-2022 season, with infrastructure at schools and health facilities in some areas having already been destroyed.

CPU acting director Mr Nathan Nkomo said disaster preparedness starts with planning.

He was speaking during a regional symposium on the impact of climate change being hosted by Government in collaboration with Sadc and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Victoria Falls.

The symposium opened on Monday and ends today, with climate and humanitarian experts discussing about climate change and its impact as well as implementation of the Sendai Framework for disaster reduction.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) is an international document that was adopted by United  Nations member states in 2015 at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan.

“I am happy to say that disaster preparedness starts with planning. We have planned education and awareness programmes in various districts but within the confines of Covid-19 pandemic. We must have infrastructure like drones and warehouses which supports the ideas we have.

“We need drones and luckily we got 18 form a partner and we will eventually use to collect intelligence in the event that bridges and roads are swept away,” said Mr Nkomo.

He said the CPU is currently training staff in the use of the drones and information technologies associated with the servers and connectivity that will be used.

Mr Nkomo did not disclose details about the partner or how much the drones were purchased for.

“It requires a lot of training and connectivity to a given big server which will be a repository of all information,” he said.

Mr Nkomo said Government had come up with a national contingency plan for the 2021-2022 rainfall season, which talks about backlog in infrastructure that was damaged by natural disasters and still needs rehabilitation.

Mr Nkomo said plans are underway to also construct evacuation centres in flood prone areas so that people can move to higher ground in the event of flooding.

He said Government had done tremendous work in rehabilitating areas affected by floods.

Mr Nkomo said work is underway to devolve civil protection especially to local authorities to enhance extensive response in special planning.

This hinges on the new wetlands masterplan and the Disaster Management Bill that is also being crafted.

“We are going to create a platform for local authorities’ civil protection because they have by-laws which can be used in enforcing policy. Every structure from the centre to the villages need strengthening, these are the platforms which are a provision of the amended Bill and must be supported by law,” added Mr Nkomo.-@ncubeleon