By Goddy Ikey, PANA Correspondent
MAPUTO, Mozambique (PANA, 01/19/99) - Flooding on the Pungue and Buzi rivers in the central Mozambican province of Sofala has continued to worsen, reports Tuesday's issue of Noticias, the Maputo-published daily.

The Pungue river water has covered and inundated a two to three kilometre stretch of the Beira-Zimbabwe highway, making it unadvisable for anything other than four wheel drive vehicles to attempt to cross the flooded area.

The height of the river at the Pungue bridge was measured on Monday at 8.3 metres, and was still rising.

Further south, the Buzi river is also rising, thanks both to heavy rains and to discharges from the Chicamba dam on the Buzi's main tributary, the Revue.

The planned discharges of 400 cubic metres a second began last Wednesday but ended on Monday, in an attempt to minimise flood damage.

Road communications in the lower Buzi valley are now difficult, and the swollen waters are also making the usual mode of transport between Buzi town and Beira - by boat - extremely hazardous.

Copyright =A9 1999 Panafrican News Agency. All Rights Reserved.
Material may not be redistributed, posted to any other location, published or used for broadcast without written authorization from the Panafrican News Agency. B.P. 4056, Dakar, Senegal.
Tel: (221) 824-13-95 | Fax: (221) 824-13-90 | E-mail: quoiset@sonatel.senet.net