Rains cut off M1 Road
Heavy rains that fell Monday evening cut off part of the M1 Road at Enukweni in Mzimba District, rendering it impassable for the good part of Tuesday.
This means hundreds of vehicles coming from Tanzania, Songwe, Chitipa and Karonga could not connect to Mzuzu and the rest of the country.
When we visited the site, we found public transporters from Mzuzu picking passengers that were coming from the direction of Rumphi and other areas up north to connect to Mzuzu.
Roads Authority (RA) officials, in a statement, said the problem arose because box culverts installed near Enukweni, about 37 kilometres (km) from Mzuzu City, were undermined overnight due to downpours.
“All motorists wishing to travel between Mzuzu and Rumphi are being encouraged to use the road from Endwongloweni via Engucwini, popularly known as 3 ways, to Chisyombe [around Kacheche Area]. This road, however, can only allow vehicles of up to five-tonne capacity,” the RA statement reads.
The Endwongloweni to Chisyombe Road is 38km long.
RA sought site backfilling services from one of their emergency contractors, Chivundiko Civil Engineering.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the affected spot was filled with earth and became passable though traffic took time to clear.
As a permanent solution, RA has announced plans to construct a bailey bridge at the affected place, further saying the process of sourcing bailey parts was on track.
