Zimbabwe’s second largest city Bulawayo has become synonymous with water shortages.
At the start of this year, residents were getting water just once every seven days as the city battled possibly the worst water crisis in years.
At it’s worst, the water crisis saw the local authority telling residents that they would get water supply, only when and if the precious liquid will be available.
And for once, a local authority lived up to its promises. Water supply in Zimbabwe’s second largest city was intermittent. Residents endured weeks on end without water.
The City’s supply dams were running dry, at some point a meagre 20 percent full, all six of them. Two had to be decommissioned.
Some residents who could afford, sunk boreholes in their yards, many dug shallow wells while a good lot resorted to unsafe sources of water.
Resultantly, water borne disease dogged the city. Mid last year, the City battled a fatal diarrhoea outbreak, which left many dead and hundreds infected.
The rains have brought some relief for Zimbabwe’s second largest city. Dams have started filling up and the local authority has hinted at easing the water shedding programme.
According to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, as at 26 February, the City’s supply dams were at 54 percent capacity, up 39 percent from December last year.
Bulawayo City Council announced last week that it would gradually ease the water shedding regime, from a harsh 144 hours, to 72 hours a week, gradually until water is available daily.
A number of projects undertaken by Government and the local authority are expected to bring relief to residents in the city.
Last week President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned the Epping Forest boreholes in Nyamandlovu, one of the projects expected to help alleviate water shortages in the short term.
The boreholes have capacity to supply 15 mega liters of water, taking the city’s total aggregated water supply to 135 Mega Liters a day against a demand of 120 mega liters.
With more boreholes, the City could kiss water shortages goodbye as the Nyamandlovu has bountiful reserves of water. What’s needed, according to experts is the right infrastructure to exploit the resources and quench a recurring thirst in the City of Kings.
President Mnangagwa also presided over the Gwayi Shangani pipeline ground breaking ceremony.
On completion the Gwayi-Shangani pipeline will have a capacity to convey in excess of 160 000 mega litres of water to the city of Bulawayo annually.
Speaking during the ground breaking ceremony, President Mnangagwa said the the projects will permanently resolve water shortages in the region.
“This event attests to the power of a shared vision, unity of purpose and hard work.
” The Nyamandlovu and Gwayi Shangani pipeline ground breaking ceremony is a remarkable milestone in our quest to improve water supply to the city of Bulawayo and the nation at large,” he said.
The Gwayi-Shangani project, mooted in 1912, will be undertaken by local engineers thus empower local communities.
The President added, “The zambezi water project will become a reality during my administration, the projects will permanently resolve water shortages in the region.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority chief executive officer Eng Taurai Maurukira said the Gwayi-Shangani dam will be complete by year end and Bulawayo could start receiving water from the dam in early 2022, upon completion of the pipeline.
While Bulawayo’s water challenges are well documented, work on the ground indicates that the problems are soon to be history, as a number of projects to improve water supply have taken off the ground.
It is now a matter of when, not if the water Bulawayo will thirst no more.