Superwaterway – Flooded Thika Road

I dread rains especially the sudden downpour when there was sweat sunshine hours ago. In this tropical country who would want wet weather throughout the year. Not only do humans in this country avoid rain but also their carriages are adversely affected. I recall one legendary singer who sang that Nairobians fear rain more than cars on the road.

He was correct. Think of rain and you start running for a shelter – may be stopping/cancelling all day’s business plans. Media house would have another story to cover that evening. With headlines of “Transport has been paralyzed in many parts of Nairobi following a sudden heavy downpour this afternoon”. Even the gorvernor would agree that many of the city’s roads are rendered impassable leading to heavy traffic just because of drop of water from the sky. This situation adversely impacts transport and commutters are always stranded in the town Centre.

My recent encounter was on the superhighway. Barely two years after completion of Thika. It is seems to be a no go zone with heavy downpour in our city. This Thika superhighway was heavily flooded and if you drove a vitz – lucky if you went through the sea on our superhighway.

Just few minutes of rain renders Thika Superhighway impassable. Motorist reduce their speeds to near zero, as the water fills the road. It is a superwaterway maybe and not a highway. I almost gave a tick to this completed road but drainage has left me the opposite. The authority has neglected the drains despite the Chinese doing a commendable work. More blame is direct towards us, some residents fill drains with garbage and all form of plastic. When it rains, water is therefore left with nowhere to go, but to fill the road. Lets stop this, think global while acting locally.

Steps to green future

Changing Scape of the Hill

Upper Hill or call it the Hill, this zone was home to low and middle density housing for public servants. It was ranked after Karen, Muthaiga, and Lavington, this was perhaps the next most prestigious residential address for government bigwigs and others in the then East African Railways.  Defined by the Railways Golf Course to its East, the Public Service Club to the West, Ngong and Elgon Roads to the North and South.

Nairobi City Hall has however since changed user to office cum commercial and left standards open to high rise developments. The Hill has experienced unprecedented new construction in recent years. It is now home to the World Bank Regional Office, The British Embassy, Coca Cola, major banks, insurance firms, private members’ clubs and a number of medium and high-end hotels.  It has been the destination of choice for many corporate institutions in Nairobi.

A number of public agencies have also lately relocated here including the Teachers Service Commission. The multi-storey Rahimtullah Tower stands tall over these developments, flagged by Coca Cola energy saving building, Equity Bank Center and yet to be completed Kenya Commercial Bank Tower.

It stands out as a “cool” place to do business or host some business lunch. The Hill is located 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) by road west of the central business district (CBD) of Nairobi. Compared to the hyper congested CBD, The Hill has good aesthetics and a reasonable spice of green zones which lift up working moods. Dreams of class, intelligence of world class and mouth-watering cocktails brush up on Hill.