LAKE TANGANYIKA – THE WORLD’S SECOND-DEEPEST LAKE TRIGGERS ENGINEERING CHALLENGE IN BURUNDI

‘What are we going to do if the water does not stop rising?’ That question has been on everyone’s mind: Homeowners, building contractors and construction workers, farmers, market vendors, schoolchildren, commuters, and of course, development and humanitarian workers.

During the past two years persistent heavy rain, followed by floods, landslides, and strong winds, has raised Lake Tanganyika to dangerous levels, engulfing entire roads, markets, school playgrounds and churches. Welcome at first, the downpours soon began to wreak havoc on lives and livelihoods in the Republic of Burundi and across the entire sub-region. The world’s second-deepest lake – and as long as 600 km – is shared between Burundi, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – and none has been spared from devastation.

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