Floods cut off Karuma-Pakwach road

Pakwach, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Heavy flooding of River Tangi near Pakwach bridge has cut off traffic flow along Karuma-Pakwach highway via Nwoya district.

The affected road intersection is just 500 meters after Pakwach bridge in Nwoya district. The incident which happened between 7:00am and 8:00am this morning cut off several passenger vehicles heading to Kampala and those from Karuma heading to Pakwach.

This situation has also affected other vehicles plying Tangi Gate/Pakwach to Masindi route via Murchison Falls National Game park.

Paul Eseru, the Pakwach Resident District Commissioner (RDC) says over the past two days, the  district has been receiving heavy down pour which made River Tangi to burst its banks this morning. He told URN that they have temporarily suspended movement of vehicles from Pakwach to Nwoya and vice versa as they monitor the situation.

Eseru further says that a team of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) officials from Gulu station have been dispatched to Pakwach to offer immediate solution.

However, the Pakwach district chairperson Robert Omito Steen has challenged UNRA to find lasting solution to the floods saying this is not the first time it’s happening.

In the meantime, motorists to and from West Nile have been advised to use alternative routes like Gulu-Adjumani-Laropi ferry or postpone their travels along the road until the situation normalizes.

This is the second time in nearly three years for floods to cut the Karuma-Pakwach road. In December 2019, floods cut off passenger vehicles heading to Pakwach and those from Arua leaving several passengers stranded. UNRA attributed the floods to the rise in the water levels of tributaries that feed into River Nile.

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