By Tatiana Mhararira
Five boreholes in the Mbeva area, Masvingo rural have dried up leading to water shortages for the villagers in the area for several months now.
The drying up boreholes are located in Mudare, Zano, Gwinyangwi, Muzakwatira and Machokoto areas and that has led to water challenges in the village.
The El Nino induced drought has contributed to the drying up of boreholes, with villagers opting to use water from unprotected water sources.
Speaking to TellZim News, ward 14 councilor Misheck Nzvinginya confirmed the issue and said the drying up of boreholes has caused villagers to travel a distance to access water.
“The dried boreholes has caused villagers to travel long distance to get water.
The water table has decreased due to El Nino so people are finding it hard to access water from their usual sources.
“Villagers are struggling to get water. They move to people with boreholes to get safe water to drink,” said Nzvinginya.
Nzvinginya said their area has one solar powered borehole which many fail to access and they appeal for more solar powered boreholes.
“Our area has one solar powered which is at Mapa and not all villagers can access it. We appeal for more boreholes so that everyone can have water at their door step,” said Nzvinginya.
One of the villagers, Noah Machote said they were facing a serious water crisis as a community.
“The water challenge has become a serious problem and we have failed to access clean water to drink as a village. Moving a distance to get water is a problem,” said Machote.
One of the unprotected water sources is about 1,2 meters deep and the villagers has used stones to allow users to access the well which has reached a level of coming out as a mixture of water and mud.
