Water bowsers for Chitungwiza water crisis 

Source: Water bowsers for Chitungwiza water crisis | The Sunday Mail

Nokuthula Dube

CHITUNGWIZA Municipality has drilled a high-capacity borehole at the town’s fire brigade station to provide bulk water to residents using bowsers.

This is part of efforts to address a crisis that has left many residents without access to clean water.

The local authority has also begun motorising the town’s most productive community boreholes to augment water supplies.

Presently, most of the town’s community boreholes are operated manually, limiting their efficiency in meeting residents’ water needs.

Chitungwiza, a dormitory town with a population of over 411 000 across 120 000 households, has been hit hard by a water crisis owing to the drastic reduction in supplies from the Harare City Council.

The crisis deepened following the decommissioning of the Prince Edward Water Treatment Plant as a result of a drop in water levels in Harava and Seke dams, the facility’s main sources of water.

Chitungwiza, which heavily depends on water from Harare, has for years struggled to secure a reliable supply of clean drinking water.

In response to the current crisis, a high-level meeting between Chitungwiza town authorities and the Government to explore short-term solutions is scheduled for this week.

In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Chitungwiza acting director of works Engineer Talent Mashinga said: “We have equipped a borehole at our fire brigade site to draw bulk water, and we have secured water tanks for some of our trucks, which are undergoing repairs at the moment.

“We are also awaiting delivery of electric pumps to motorise our prolific boreholes, with procurement already underway. Additionally, we have engaged the Ministry of Local Government on this issue and a meeting is set for Tuesday.”

Chitungwiza requires over 320 megalitres of water per month but is receiving less than 8 megalitres.

In a separate interview, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe underscored the Government’s commitment to providing potable water across the country.

“One of the notable interventions has been to ensure that councils prioritise the use of devolution funds in programmes that cater for water and sanitation projects,” said Minister Garwe.

“The Government has also facilitated the drilling of boreholes in some of these urban centres.”

The Government, he added, is working to ensure adequate water supplies for all urban centres by advancing dam projects presently under development in various parts of the country.

“The Ministry of Lands (Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development) has reported progress on Kunzvi Dam and indications are that the project will be completed soon,” he added.

“I want to assure the nation that, as alluded earlier, the Government is working flat out to ensure that adequate water is provided for both domestic and industrial use.

“We also pray that we receive the anticipated rains this season so that even our existing water bodies can harvest enough water.”