adminTawanda Mangoma in Chiredzi
Chiredzi residents have implored their council to urgently address crippling water shortages to prevent possible Cholera and Typhoid outbreak. Some suburbs in Chiredzi have been without running water for the past four months, forcing residents to rely on water from unprotected wells, raising fears of disease outbreak.
Chiredzi town has been failing to supply water to all suburbs in Chiredzi due to a pumping system that is failing to cope with demand as the town’s population continues to increase. Chiredzi Residents and Rate Payers Association Chairman Mr Jonathan Muusha yesterday said Chiredzi faced real prospects of Cholera outbreak owing to the serious water woes. He blasted council for taking a laid back approach to a situation that could result in a potentially precarious health situation in the town.
“It is disturbing to note that some suburbs in the town have gone for close to five months without water and council is not even reacting to the matter urgently. There are strong fears of an outbreak of Cholera here because of water problems as residents rely on water from unsafe sources,’’ he said.
“We are concerned that even our request for council to provide us with bulk water has not been heeded.’’ Mr Muusha said the prevailing water situation might trigger a cholera outbreak as residents are now relying on water from unprotected wells while others are being forced to relieve themselves in open bushes because toilets in the town have no running water.
“More than 4000 households in Makondo high-density suburb are using septic tanks. Residents are relying on water sourced from wells some of which might be contaminated posing risk of disease outbreak,” he said. Chiredzi Town Council Chairman councillor Francis Moyo however, allayed fears of a cholera outbreak because of water shortages saying plans were underway to immediately supply bulk water in the town.
“We have been experiencing serious water pumping problem for quite sometime. Our water pumping capacity has been overwhelmed due to the towns growth hence the need to upgrade our water pumping, purification and delivery capacity.
“Government allocated us $600 000 for water pumping and delivery upgrade in the 2018 budget a development we hope will end the water woes but as a stop gap measure we will be supplying bulk water in dry areas for now,’’ he said.
Online Reporter