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verdant and expanding water hyacinth whose spreading tentacles are threatening to turn the nearby pool along Mucheke River into an expansive green lush.
Passers-by, in succession, cover their overwhelmed noses as a sign of capitulation in the face of the strong stench which is now a common phenomenon for those who cross Mucheke River through the low-lying Chimusana Bridge that links the sprawling Mucheke suburb with Zimbabwe’s oldest town of Masvingo.
A meticulous look further down the bloated Mucheke River, shows the disturbing image of some dead fish floating in the dark hued waters, an indication that something has gone terribly wrong with the waters of
Mucheke River. Mucheke is one of the main tributaries of Lake Mutirikwi down-stream.
Mucheke River, whose catchment area stretches to Gokomere Mission and the surrounding small-scale farming areas, has of late turned into an easy repository of raw sewage and industrial effluent from the
Masvingo industrial area posing serious risk and danger to aquatic life domiciled in the river.
Masvingo’s sole water supplier and Zimbabwe’s largest inland water body, Lake Mutirikwi, has of late been loaded with huge quantities of raw sewage from the city’s Rujeko Pump Station while at the same time
having to contend with an uninterrupted flow of industrial waste deposited into the river from the Masvingo industrial area, further upstream.
The scourge of power cuts, that regularly blights Masvingo like other parts of the country, have of late been blamed for council’s regular decisions to release raw sewage into the already polluted Mucheke River waters. The river has now become a stream of flowing raw sewage and industrial waste rendering the water unfit as a habitat for aquatic life such as fish.
Masvingo City Council has vowed to continue pumping sewage into Mucheke River in a development that is going to have far-reaching consequences on the river’s ecosystem.
Masvingo Mayor Alderman Femius Chakabuda says as long as there are power cuts in Masvingo by the power utility, Zesa, that he claims demobilises council’s ability to pump raw sewage, his council will continue pumping raw sewage into Mucheke River.
Alderman Chakabuda said though council was aware of the threats and dangers posed to aquatic life in Mucheke River and eventually Lake Mutirikwi, council was left with no option in the face of the debilitating power cuts.
‘’We will unfortunately continue to pump raw sewage into Mucheke River as long as there are power cuts because our pumps for sewage rely on electricity and it means if there is no electricity we have no option except to pump the sewage into the river. It is a dilemma for us as council,” said Alderman Chakabuda.
The Masvingo mayor conceded that council was aware of the eventual damage that will effect in Lake Mutirikwi but hastened to point out that the pumping of raw sewage into Mucheke River was not council’s fault alone adding that there was need to come up with a multi-sectoral approach to arrest the lingering threat of pollution in Lake Mutirikwi.
“The threat of pollution in Lake Mutirikwi is not the responsibility of council alone, there has to be a multi-sectoral approach in finding a permanent solution to continued discharge of raw sewage and industrial effluent into Mucheke River and eventually into Lake Mutirikwi, we are quite aware that fish and other aquatic animals and plants are succumbing but the solution should not be left in the hands of council alone,” added the Masvingo mayor.
Environmental Management Agency Masvingo provincial manager Mr Milton Muusha also weighed in saying discharge of raw sewage and effluent into Mucheke River posed a serious threat to the environment.
“The story of Rujeko pump station is, in fact, a sad one, as raw sewage can discharge into the river for a whole day, depending on how long electricity is not available. This has totally destroyed the river system, and EMA cannot just sit and watch this.
“Raw sewage discharge into the river results in nutrient loading of the river system, a process called eutrophication. This encourages the growth of aquatic weeds like the water hyacinth, and also reduces oxygen content in the river, thereby threatening aquatic life. Raw sewage accumulating in the river also increases chances of water- borne diseases like cholera and diarrhoea, to downstream users,”said Muusha.
However, Mayor Chakabuda said EMA and a string of companies in the Masvingo industrial area that were covertly discharging effluent into Mucheke River were also culpable directly or indirectly in the in the existence of continued threats of pollution to Mucheke River and eventually Lake Mutirikwi waters
“EMA has always been fining council (Masvingo City) for polluting Mucheke River but we do not think that alone will arrest the threat of continued pollution in Mucheke River because council should be capacitated to have alternative means to pump sewage if there are power blackouts while companies that discharge effluent into the river under the cover of darkness at night should also be responsible and stop doing that,” he said.
Masvingo City Council needs assistance in securing back-up generators that will be stationed at sewer-pumping posts across the city to continue pumping raw sewage in the event of power blackouts. The continued pumping of raw sewage into Mucheke River has brought to the fore the ghastly prospect of threats of pollution to Lake Mutirikwi, hitherto a clean water reservoir which was not only the pride of Masvingo province as a reliable source of drinking water but also a habitat of diverse aquatic species whose lifespan is now under increasing threats from man’s unsustainable use and treatment of the environment.
Alderman Chakabuda conceded that without moves to capacitate council to circumvent the nagging problems of power cuts raw sewage would continue to be spilled into Mucheke River and with time the increasing sewer and industrial effluent levels discharged in Lake Mutirikwi will compromise the quality of the water to the detriment of not only abundant and diverse aquatic life in the vast reservoir. Also tens of thousands of people in the dam’s immediate environment whose socio-economic activities have revolved around the giant dam for decades.
Mr Muusha, however, maintained that the ball was firmly in Masvingo City Council’s court as far as finding a permanent solution to the continued discharging of effluent into Mucheke River and eventually in Lake Mutirikwi.
“EMA has been engaging the local authority to ensure that they have a programme in place to improve their effluent, as well as have measures in place to avoid flowing of raw sewage into the river.
“We have even gone to court to try and get this commitment from the local authority. In light of the above, the need on the part of the local authority, to explore all possible avenues to rectify and contain the situation, cannot be overemphasised. EMA has never received any plans, or programme of action to tackle the problem. All stakeholders need to be engaged, and a way forward found,” said the EMA Masvingo provincial manager.
However, as EMA and Masvingo City Council continue to haggle over the continued discharge of effluent into Mucheke River, an environmental crisis time-bomb is gradually ticking and sooner or later Lake Mutirikwi’s water in general and its aquatic life will be the biggest losers.
Online Reporter