Melinda Kusemachibi
The water situation in Chikarudzo in Masvingo Central constituency continues to be dire, as most villagers are resorting to use of unprotected wells as an alternative to borehole water which has become scarce.
A number of communities have been struggling to access water and have resorted to queuing at a few available boreholes with some using unprotected wells.
Speaking at Padare naMambo Mugabe, a programme organized by TellZim News in partnership with ZIMCODD on April 29, 2022 where women and various village heads engaged Chief Mugabe born Matubede Mudavanhu on developmental projects as well as management of local resources, villagers bemoaned on lack of adequate safe water sources.
“A lot of people from the community use one borehole which is at a school and it is difficult for all villagers to use one source of water since there are many people in the area. We are appealing to government to have at least two boreholes so that we can have access to clean water,” said one participant.
Another participant also said the borehole that was only the source of water broke down a long time ago and they resorted to using unprotected wells while at the same time lack of adequate water is affecting the dip tank as they do not have water to use at the facility.
“The only borehole that we had in our area broke down a long time ago. We are appealing to the responsible authorities to have at least a borehole which serves Jadeson, Ganyamatope and Mugwini so that we have water in our area. Again, our dip tank at Chikarudzo is not working. It is not because of poor infrastructure, but it is because of water to be used for dipping.
“In the gardens nearby, there is water but we do not have a trench to connect to the dip tank. People have no access to that water as sometimes owners of the gardens will not allow them to do so,” added one participant.
The other participant also said water available at a local school borehole is contaminated hence not safe for humans.
“The water at the school again is not safe to drink because it changes to brownish color once it has been poured into a bucket,” said one woman.
The water woes keep mount at a time when government has embarked on the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme, which was said will put water problems to rest.
