Mauritania could lose its capital city at sea (OneWorld.net)

NOUAKCHOTT, June 28 (IPS)-over the past five years, water has been running off the ground under those parts of Nouakchott, undermining the foundations and turning in some areas of the Mauritanian capital marshes uninhabitable.

Tabara Gaye, a widow living near this coastal town, Socogim PS told IPS that her house collapsed near the 20 June. She is demanding urgent help from the Government before the rainy season this year to pay for and the cost of building embankments against the waters.

In 2007, limited flooding has been reported in several places during the rainy season. But in January 2011, residents were forced to flee their homes, when water began to invade the different neighborhoods, including Baghdad, Sebkha Socogim, and Las Palmas. Murmurs of discontent gained strength until the clamor for compensation from the Government and private developers that threw out the sites now submerged spurred the Government to act.

Mauritanian President Mohamed Abdelaziz personally visited the site in April and established an inter-ministerial Committee to examine the problem, but the Committee has yet to report.

Retiree Moktar Kane, a victim of the floods, says, "I spent 35 million ouguiyas (about 138,000 dollars) for the purchase of a plot subject to flooding. My neighbors and I, a total of 476 families need a leak of waste water discharge and runoff ... or want substantial compensation. "

Compensation of Kane and its neighbours is out of the question, according to developers, Iskan (the name means accommodation in Arabic). "The lots have been allocated in 1982 and the water table, then, was two meters," says Technical Director of Iskan, Med Ali. "All of Nouakchott is located below the water table. Only the Government can resolve this. "

Recent Government studies suggest that nearly 80 percent of the total surface area of Nouakchott could become submerged in less than a decade--to 20 years. One scenario involves the disappearance of the city around 2050.

The Director of environmental services, Ould Lefdal says simply, "Nouakchott lies in a depression 50 cm below sea level. The sea is advancing towards the city at a rate of 25 meters per year. "

Banimou Tlayor, from local non-governmental organization action for rational management of the environment, says that the port city has changed the shape of the coast and that any rise in sea level exposes Nouakchott to flooding.

Moreover, the pumping of water from the River Senegal, a rise of groundwater corresponding to sea level rise in the Atlantic and the absence of an adequate drainage are all playing a role.

Bamody Diakità ©, the Coordinator of Nouakchott of special programme to protect the city, says that 120,000 cubic metres of water from the River is dealt to the fresh water supply of the city, but much of this is lost to leaks in the antiquated network. Says this, alongside the lack of a system of sewers and storm drains, is aggravating the phenomenon of rising waters below the city.

Another contributing factor is derived from the use of sand for the construction, which-according to Diakità ©-opened 18 infringement in coastal dunes that protects the Interior from the high seas.

The Government spent eight million dollars for the program, the money goes towards restoring the duna coast as well as plant a greenbelt of protective vegetation.

Several studies carried out to assess the best way to plug gaps in coastal dune. "The project more feasible-dredging the seabed to reinforce the duna-will soon be put out of the race," said Coulibaly. He recognized the serious deterioration of the natural environment near the port of Nouakchott where 15 kilometres of the coastal bar was destroyed by wind erosion; a Chinese company is building a dam.

But Dr Marico Demba, head of coastal adaptation to climate change project in West Africa, funded by the United Nations fears that responds to calls for greater resources of Mauritania owns.

The situation-its severity made very late-is precarious. Residents of Nouakchott fear for the future of their capital. Everything depends on the climate change and global warming, says Lefdal.

More background from OneWorld

Climate change in Mauritania

LATEST GLOBAL NEWS

View the original article here

Posted in: capital,could,Mauritania,OneWorldnet