Ed Damazine residents and relief workers heaved a sigh of relief when the city’s main road to the south opened up, after being blocked by a damaged causeway for more than two months.
The road, the only route to Blue Nile state’s Kurmuk and Bau counties, became usable again when UNMIS’ Pakistani contingent – at the request of Ed Damazine’s civil authorities -- installed a culvert to divert the water.
At the beginning of the road, near Damazine University, a drainage ditch had deepened with the August rains, turning a level crossing over it into a causeway. The causeway’s banks collapsed with heavy traffic, closing the road, and stagnant water was collecting due to improper drainage.
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“We are afraid of water collecting in the vicinity and destroying our houses, which are made of mud and straw,” said Bashir Muhammad of a nearby village. ‘This could also result in the spread of waterborne diseases. Malaria is common here.”
In making the repair, which took three-days, the Pakistani engineers completely removed water and slush from the area and installed a culvert, attaching its walls with stone masonry. They used gravel to fill in the road’s potholes and finish its surface, grading and compacting it with a roller. |
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