Chitungwiza Municipality has said that the current water crisis in the town is due to a drought caused by El Niño. This led to the early shutdown of the Prince Edward Water Treatment Plant, which closed four months earlier than last year.
The plant, managed by Harare City Council, was shut down in August after the Harava and Seke supply dams ran dry.
In an interview with NewsDay, Tafadzwa Kachiko, the municipality’s spokesperson, stressed the need for urgent action to address the water shortage. He mentioned, “We are feeling the effects of the El Niño drought. Last year, we received about 14 megalitres of water daily, which helped us manage our water supply. The Prince Edward plant was closed on December 5 last year, but we only had one month of dry conditions because supply returned to normal in January.”
Kachiko also said that the municipality has asked the government for help and is planning a meeting to find solutions to the water crisis.
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Marvelous Khumalo, spokesperson for the Chitungwiza Residents Association, urged the government to speed up the construction of the Kunzvi Dam. This dam is expected to help solve the water problems for both Harare and Chitungwiza. He explained, “Harare is struggling to meet its water needs, providing Chitungwiza with less than 10 megalitres daily, while we need about 70 megalitres each day.”
Khumalo hopes that the government will prioritize finishing the Kunzvi Dam and other important projects to increase water supply for the growing population in the Harare area. He added, “Relying on underground water is just a temporary solution and is not sustainable.”
Tendai Mareya, chairman of the Chitungwiza Business Community Trust, suggested that the council should remove fees for drilling boreholes and lower water rates.
Last week, Chitungwiza Mayor Rosaria Mangoma said the council was receiving only one to three megalitres of water from Morton Jaffray on weekends, which is much lower than the daily need of 75 megalitres. She urged residents to find reliable alternative sources of water to avoid health risks.
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