City in boreholes crisis . . . Majority not functional due to vandalism

21 Jul, 2019 - 00:07 0 Views
City in boreholes crisis . . . Majority not functional due to vandalism Engineer Simela Dube

The Sunday News

Vusumuzi Dube, Municipal Reporter

NEARLY half of the boreholes at Nyamandlovu Aquifer which also supplies water to Bulawayo are not working due to vandalism, a situation that is further compromising the supply of water to the city.

Speaking at a water crisis committee meeting, the local authority’s director of engineering services, Engineer Simela Dube revealed that only 27 out of 57 boreholes at the aquifer were functional with the rest having been vandalised by villagers.

“Zinwa has repaired some of the boreholes, which has seen average delivery increased from two megalitres a day to 2,8 mega litres a day as from June.

Power challenges however, remain a limiting factor in meeting the agreed operational output of five megalitres a day. Council has tried to engage Zesa on exempting load shedding to pump stations,” said Eng Dube.

In terms of boreholes in the city’s high-density suburbs, Eng Dube said 334 boreholes are operational, 15 are not working and 28 are yet to be equipped.

“As we go through this water shedding schedule, with some of our residents having to use water from our boreholes we call upon them to ensure that they boil the water for their safety although as a local authority we continuously test the water,” he said.

Speaking at the same meeting, Minister of State for Bulawayo Metropolitan Provincical Affairs, Cde Judith Ncube bemoaned the vandalism of infrastructure at the Nyamandlovu Aquifer saying there was a need for the local authority to address the issue with village elders in Nyamandlovu.

“It’s sad that at a time that we are faced with a water crisis we have all those boreholes being vandalised.

There is an urgent need that we engage the people living around those boreholes and stress the need to protect our property, we honestly cannot be suffering because of careless people,” said Minister Ncube.

Meanwhile, Eng Dube revealed that the council was embarking on a number of projects to augment water supplies in the city but noted that the long-term permanent solution to the water problems was the completion of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam.

“Some of the projects which we are looking at include the duplication of the Insiza pipeline, this year we will be working on the feasibility study for the duplication of the Mtshabezi- Ncema pipeline and the ground water feasibility to augment supplies at Sawmills.

At Epping Forest Lot Two where we expect to drill more boreholes, the project is yet to be finalised pending procurement challenges while in terms of reclaimed water we will soon be re-commissioning Khami Dam,” said Eng Dube.

In terms of challenges being faced in water delivery, the director revealed that most of their infrastructure was now bearing the brunt of old age hence they were experiencing constant systems failure.

“BCC cannot abstract maximum from the dams due to pipelines infrastructure constraints and due to the economic challenges spares are not available locally to cater for emergencies,” said Eng Dube.

The local authority recently endured over 10 days without water supplies as they implemented major rehabilitation works under the Bulawayo Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (BWSSIP) funded by the African Development Bank.

The BWSSIP programme is meant to improve municipal water supply and sanitation services in the city. The exercise has seen the city opening taps for selected suburbs on a rotational basis for about 24 hours as works continue.

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