The ManicaPost
Abel Zhakata Senior Reporter
MOST parts of Mutare are facing serious water shortages that have a potential of triggering contagious diseases as council battles to contain numerous recurrent pipe bursts that are chewing thousands to repair. The local authority is figuring out how best to handle an aged water piping system which has since been overwhelmed by rapid urban growth.
Dangamvura high-density suburb is the hardest hit area with residents going for days with nothing coming out of taps. Some areas in the location have gone for more than five years without water.
The situation has been worsened by the abrupt mushrooming of squatters who are putting more pressure on an already strained water system that is failing to service existent proper dwellings.
Illegal settlers are sourcing water by way of damaging main holes and valves along the water feeder lines thereby complicating the system.
Mutare Mayor Councillor Blessing Tandi said the city engineers department was working flat out to mend the burst pipes.
He said the old water pipes had outlived their lifespan and new ones must be laid to avert the situation.
“The water pipes have grown old. We have bursts here and there but our new guys are working tirelessly to correct the situation. The problem we have is that the previous city engineer and the guys who were taking care of the water system in the city were doing a shoddy job. They left the system to decay like what is showing now. The new water guys are doing their job well it’s only that the pipes are old,” he said.
Cllr Tandi said the Dangamvura issue is best solved by the completion of the new lines which is left with a few kilometres to connect to the reservoir at the Link Road.
“The completion of that pipeline is a high priority area and we hope to get funds soon and finish the task. The new line is bigger and it will enable us to distribute more volumes to Dangamvura and emerging new locations,” he said.
The shortages have resulted in residents doing nocturnal errands to source water around the city and, at times, from unprotected sources.
Some boreholes that were erected some months ago to avert the situation are being shunned because of the perennial flow of raw sewerage that has contaminated the water table.
Unserviced locations like Gimboki and Federation that house more than 20 000 families are putting pressure on the fragile water system.
