Meru County steering group has embarked on identifying areas, in all the nine constituencies, that are likely to be adversely affected by the anticipated October-December El Nino rains.
Chairing the meeting in his boardroom, County Commissioner, Fred Ndunga said each department had an obligation to contribute in the identification of the possible challenges in their respective sectors to enable timely and adequate intervention measures.
Ndunga said the national and the county government was committed to mobilizing resources required to safeguard people and their property from adverse effects by the expected heavy and prolonged downpours in the first week of October this year.
The County Commissioner said the final report by the sector groups will guide on the feasible mitigation measures in different parts of the county to contain possible flooding and pollution.
He urged the sector groups to move with speed to have the final report and the implementation matrix ready by the end of the week, saying there was not much time left to the onset of the heavy rains.
During the boardroom deliberations, creating awareness across the county and particularly in areas deemed to be prone to floods among other El Nino impacts emerged as a priority to ensure residents were not taken by surprise.
Ndunga said all players and partners in the county were bound in support of strategies geared towards mitigating the impact of El Nino since some parts of the county had traumatizing experiences during the 1997 El Nino rains where life and property was lost as a result of land and mudslides.
The administrator noted that the humanitarian service providers should remain on high alert to attend to emerging situations, considering that the heavy downpours were expected at a time when learners were sitting for the national examinations at all levels of education.
By Makaa Margaret
