THE flooded Nyautonge Bridge in Chirumanzu communal lands in the Midlands Province left villagers and holidaymakers cut off over the Christmas holiday last Thursday as vehicles and people could not cross to the other side.
Stephen Chadenga OWN CORRESPONDENT
When the Southern Eye news crew arrived at the flooded bridge last Thursday – which is about 15km along the Chaka-Charandura growth point road – scores of people were waiting for the river to subside before crossing.
One traveller, Constance Mariko, said she had arrived at the bridge around 1pm and had to wait for seven hours before crossing.
“I managed to get to the other side of the bridge around 8pm and only arrived home at Chinyuni around 12 midnight,” she said.
“The situation is bad and authorities should do something to rectify the situation because this bridge is just too low.”
Felistas Chigumbu said she and her family had to spend part of their Christmas Day waiting for the water to ebb before crossing.
Investigations by this paper from villagers near the bridge, revealed that in the past five years more than 10 people have drowned while attempting to cross Nyautonge while flooded.
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Villagers blamed relevant authorities for failing to address the bridge problem.
“This is not the first time villagers and travellers have been cut off,” Josias Shoko lamented.
“On Unity Day (December 22), people had to wait from morning until 8:30pm when the water had subsided.”
Chirumanzu constituency legislator, Innocent Pedzisai Munanzvi, could not be reached for comment yesterday as his mobile was unreachable.
