Water woes hit Zaka

Sydney Mubaiwa in Zaka

Villagers in Zaka East Constituency are facing teething water shortages after some of their boreholes broke down, while others have dried up.

Most of the villagers are now relying on unsafe water from rivers.

The state of affairs has also seen some villagers trekking for 10 kilometres to access water from other sources.

In an interview, Ward 26 Councillor Marble Chikohora said the Benzi community was now relying on a single borehole at a local school.

“We have a serious water shortage here with the entire Benzi community relying on one borehole which is failing to cope with demand,” she said.

“Some of the villagers are now getting water from unprotected sources which is very unsafe.”

As humans and livestock compete for water, the villagers say some of their livestock has started succumbing to the shortages.

Mr Amos Tsengai, a villager from Manyiri said the situation in their area was worsening.

“The problem of water in our area does not only affect human beings, but livestock as well,” he said.

“Scores of cattle have died because of shortage of water. We are also forced to drink water from the canal that runs to Mkwasine which is about 10km away.

“We are appealing to Government for boreholes to ease the problem of water we are currently facing.”

Ward 20 Councillor Walter Masaka said it was critical for Government and its partners to assist the communities in rehabilitating malfunctioning boreholes to improve the access to water in the area.

“Water is not a want, but a need and we fear an outbreak of water-borne diseases, including cholera and typhoid, if the problem is not urgently addressed,” said Cllr Masaka.

A businessman from the area, Mr Clemence Chiduwa said the water challenge was stalling construction projects, particularly at schools and clinics, among other developments.

“The water challenge is affecting construction projects at schools, work has stopped at most schools and clinics that are not being constructed or rehabilitated here because there is no water,” he said.

Mr Chiduwa said there was a need to construct small dams and embrace water harvesting initiatives in the area.

He said partnerships were also important in the drilling of more boreholes in Zaka.