El Niño rains finally here, but Kidero’s Sh50m repair works collapse
Heavy rains pounded Nairobi from Wednesday night as the much talked about El Niño rains kicked in.
But disappointingly for residents, recent repair works on the city’s drainage system failed to work, with flooding experienced in areas that Governor Evans Kidero had promised to ensure rain water flows freely.
Motorists and commuters got stuck in traffic for hours on Wednesday evening.
Sections of Jogoo road, near Makadara law courts, were completely flooded forcing outbound motorists to switch to the opposite lane. A few cars got stuck in the flood waters and had to be towed away.
Learning was paralysed at St Elizabeth primary school in Lunga Lunga on Thursday morning as flood water swamped the school.
City Hall had last set aside a Sh50 million emergency recovery fund for clearing and unblocking of clogged drainage channels and re-construction of roads.
County Executive for Environment Evans Ondieki had revealed that the county government had set aside Sh300 million for emergencies and other tragedies that may occur during the heavy rains.
The Kenya National Highways Authority also recently rehabilitated drainage systems along roads in Nairobi at a cost of Sh 50million financed by the national government.
