The city council of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, has issued a warning to residents of a possible outbreak of disease following a massive cut in the city’s water supply. This is the first time in Bulawayo’s history such a health warning has been issued.
”Water will be available for seven hours in every two days and during that time people are advised to fill their containers and cover them up. The city council is aware that water cuts may result in the outbreak of diseases, and we wish to advise members of the public to take preventive measures,” said council spokesperson Phathisa Nyathi recently.
The water shortage has been ascribed to drought, a burgeoning population and the lack of cooperation between the city council and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) — a parastatal.
Bulawayo is the capital city of Matabeleland, a southern region that has for decades been prone to droughts. When the last of its five dams was completed in 1979, the city had a population of about 250 000 and the city council could manage the needs of residents and factories.
However, those same five dams are unable to cope with the requirements of the 1,5-million people who now live in Bulawayo. And, while authorities have in recent months introduced strict water-rationing measures, these have failed to stop the water crisis from becoming the worst in the city’s history.
Earlier this month, the council was forced to decommission the Lower Ncema Dam because it ran dry. Two other dams, the Upper Ncema and the Umzingwane, had already been decommissioned for the same reason.
Officials have warned that the Inyankuni Dam will be also decommissioned soon, as it is only about a tenth full. This would leave the Insiza Dam as the last water reservoir for the city.
Insiza is Bulawayo’s largest dam, with a capacity of just over 173-million cubic metres. Currently, it is standing at slightly above 88-million cubic metres; according to Nyathi, this means that ”collectively, the city’s supply dams are only 24% full, which is worrisome”.
Bulawayo needs about 120 000 cubic metres of water per day, but at the time of writing had the capacity to pump only 69 000 cubic metres. This figure is expected to drop to 46 000 in October when the Inyankuni Dam is decommissioned.
Eighty boreholes were sunk during the last major drought in the early 1990s. But these fall far short of meeting the residents’ requirements, especially since most of them are no longer operational.
‘Something has to be done urgently’
The water crisis is having a significant effect on the way most people in Bulawayo go about their daily lives. The upper and middle classes are coping with water restrictions reasonably well, but the overwhelming majority of people living in the vast shantytowns that have swollen the city’s population in recent years are struggling.
Residents of some of the poorer suburbs now have to walk long distances to the nearest borehole to draw water, while profiteers exploit their plight by selling water at exorbitant prices.
For many, bathing has become a luxury as they reserve the little available water for other uses. Instead of bathing, they now perform what is known as a ”passport size”, wiping the face and other essentials with a damp towel.
”With the way things are going, it is very unlikely we will get any supplies [of water],” said Memory Ndlovu of Emakhandeni suburb.
”We now have to walk all the way to Old Luveve where there is a borehole, but even the borehole sometimes runs dry, as it serves people from [several other suburbs]. Something has to be done urgently otherwise a disaster is looming here.”
People in Emakhandeni say water cuts have exceeded the time periods indicated by the city council.
”They told us the water shedding would be for many hours, but now it’s turning out to be many days,” noted another resident, Thabiso Ncube.
The current crisis could exert pressure on the Bulawayo city council to allow Zinwa to take over the city’s water and sewerage system. From the beginning of the year, there has been fierce resistance to this proposed takeover, with both politicians and residents arguing that water management should remain in the hands of council.
Zinwa has already taken over Harare’s water-management system and has not proved to be very effective in the country’s capital.
If Zinwa was to assume control of Bulawayo’s water, however, it might open the way for the city to tap the idle Mtshabezi Dam or the Nyamandlovu Aquifer — two reservoirs under Zinwa management.
A 33km-long pipeline between the Mtshabezi Dam and Bulawayo’s existing Ncema system appears to be the most viable short-term solution. But even that option would take several months to implement.
The obvious long-term solutions to the water shortage would include the construction of new, larger dams and the laying of a water pipeline from the Zambezi River to Bulawayo. These solutions would, however, require a considerable investment — unimaginable in the country’s present situation.
Zimbabwe is battling economic difficulties that have seen inflation climb to four digits, widespread job losses and shortages of essential goods such as fuel. This is taking place in the midst of a political crisis characterised by clampdowns on opposition members, rights activists and the media by the government of President Robert Mugabe. –Sapa-IPS