(Last Updated on August 10, 2020 by Editor)
The crisis of water delivery to residents in most cities is a clarion call for action from all stakeholders,Community Water Alliance (CWA) has said.
Assessing the situation in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo and Chitungwiza, the CWA observed that the water supply situation is continuously deteriorating.
The assessment and observation that targeted both municipal as well as water supply complemented through boreholes showed that authorities are producing below half of the daily water demand.
“The water crisis is now a wicked problem and it requires multi-faceted approaches to resolve the problem. Dwindling dam levels and drying of shallow wells within local authorities are indications of bad times ahead. Under normal situations wells dry up in September, “ Hardlife Mudzingwa of the CWA said.
“The crisis of water delivery will have a huge burden on women and will further compromise health conditions especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. Without water regular hand-washing will be difficult to practice,” he added.
The Alliance noted that although drilling of solar powered boreholes is viewed as “ruralisation” of urban areas, this intervention would be critical at the moment.
“Such a short term intervention is critical at the moment as the nation prepare strategies to deal with drying dams and wells. Already Chitungwiza Municipality has accepted this sad reality,” Mudzingwa added.
He implored the Government of Zimbabwe to give maximum attention to the water sector and work towards realization of the human right to water enshrined on Section 77(a) of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe.