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Lake Balangida shrinking rapidly, raises concern of possible Mt. Hanang eruption
Posted: Sunday August 17, 2008 6:38 PM BT
It flooded the area in 1998 following the El-Nino weather spell and swelled again in 2006 causing Bassotu Secondary School to close down. Now Lake Balangida is drying away. Located in Bassotu ward of Hanang District, Lake Balangida which is a lifeline to about 1000 local fishermen in the vicinity is reportedly ebbing away as water levels have been dropping at alarming rate and dwindling with it are its fish reserves.
 "The lake provides livelihood to thousands of fishermen and women some coming from as far as Mtwara in the Southern highlands, Mwanza in the Lake Victoria zone, Coast Region and Arusha," said Rose Kamili, the Bassotu Ward councilor. Lake Balangida Counselor Kamili expressed concern that the shore line kept receding forcing fishermen to venture much further into the lake but since they are poorly equipped the venture is increasingly becoming difficult. A visit around the Lake vicinity revealed empty abandoned houses telling the tales of past floods. Still intact and in good shape are the premises of Bassotu Secondary School whose students were forced to vacate the institution following the 2006 swelling of Balangida. According to Ms Kamili, there are efforts to restore school operations. Rose Kamili, who is the wife of the Karatu Parliamentary Representative, Dr. Wilbroad Slaa, has her house near the lake. "In 2006 water came to as far as my threshold but now as you can see the shoreline seems to be very far away," she pointed out. The over 6000 square kilometers of cool and almost still water body lies at the windward side base of the volcanic rift valley land feature: Mount Hanang. The mountain is an extinct volcano which like Oldonyo Lengai, located 200 kilometers from it, has its own soda lake. Lake Balangida of Bassotu ward, in Katesh, perhaps serves as cooling radiator to the seemingly dormant Mt. Hanang Volcano the way Lake Natron cools the furry of Mount L'engai's volatile eruptions. While it was always believed that whenever Lake Natron shrinks away, the boiling lava of L'engai shoots up due to the absence of the cooling waters; people in Katesh are concerned that once the Lake Balangida water levels drops to dangerous levels, Mount Hanang which is a volcanic feature, may also erupt. Water hyacinths have also covered almost 30 percent of the lake spelling another doom to fishes and the water level. The increasing drought, silt and dwindling amounts of rainfall are described to be factors taking drastic toll on Lake Balangida. On the other hand, residents in the area say two of the four rivers that had been channeling water into the lake have dried up while the remaining two have shrunk down. |
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