Flooded water intake facility belonging to Thika Water and Sewerage Company (THIWASCO) along the Thika River.
Silting as a result of heavy soil erosion has forced the Thika water provision company to incur huge costs.
According to Thika Water and Sewerage Company (THIWASCO) managing the director Moses Kinya, whenever it rains muddy soil deposit end up in the water collection points, posing a major financial challenge in treatment.
To mitigate this situation, the official said the firm has embarked on an aggressive reafforestation program, targeting to plant 10,000 trees annually in various areas which he said will help reduce the silting problem.
Kinya who spoke when he led the company’s employees in planting trees at the Maryhill catchment area, said expansion of the Thika water supply has kicked off to ensure there is uninterrupted supply to the growing population.
He also pointed out that fruit trees have taken an integral part of the tree planting activity so as to help empower the local communities economically and also improve their health conditions.
Officers from the 12th Engineers Battalion which has partnered with Thiwasco in the greening programme also joined in the exercise which saw 800 hass avocado trees planted at the catchment site.
The Battalion’s environment officer Captain Gachambi said they target to plant 200,000 trees yearly and are halfway the target so far.
Kiambu County Executive Committee Member (CEC) David Kuria said the regional government has allocated over Sh 10 million yearly for preservation and protection of water catchment sites and other sources.
He said the department also aims to plant bamboo trees along rivers and other water sources to control erosion when it rains.
A youth leader George Waciuri who is also the Chairman of Green Warriors Environmental Conservation 237 appealed to the young people to make tree planting part of their birthday celebration occasions.
The Chairman Thika Business Community Alfred Wanyoike appealed to traders to support the greening as the town gear to become an industrial smart city.
ENDS
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