Tererai Karimakwenda
Water shortages that have gripped Zimbabwe’s capital reached a crisis point this week, with residents in some areas fighting each other to gain access to boreholes.
One resident was seriously injured while jostling for position in a long queue in Glen Norah where there has been no water for 5 days.
There are also serious concerns from health officials that the water crisis could lead to an outbreak of the deadly cholera disease, which killed an estimated four thousand people in 2008.
The current shortages were caused by a burst distribution pipe at the Morton Jeffray Water Treatment Plant. This has affected millions of people who live in Harare, Ruwa, Chitungwiza, Epworth and Norton.
The worst affected areas have been Glen Norah, Budiriro and Glen View, where most of the fights between residents are reported to have broken out. Council officials have said reservoirs which feed the western suburbs do not have enough water.
Experts say the city needs at least 1400 megalitres daily, but the council produces less than half that amount of clean water. In addition, there has been no maintenance of the existing boreholes that were drilled by the U.N agency UNICEF, who put them there to help ease water problems in the high density suburbs.
Juliet Masiyambiri of the Glen Norah Residents Association confirmed that only one borehole has been supplying water in her area and people are desperate. She said one resident wound up with 15 stitches to the head after a violent incident, which occurred at 3:00 a.m as people slept in queues.
Another group of residents organized a trip to the council offices, where they demanded the situation be resolved. But according to Masiyambiri they were told council workers are currently on a go-slow.
The activist said the situation was eased on Friday when electricity came back on, after being cut all week. This allowed many residents who have boreholes that work with electric pumps to help those without any water.
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The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) say they got assurance from UNICEF that they would provide more assistance if city authorities provided a letter confirming there is a crisis. But HRT coordinator Precious Shumba told SW Radio Africa that as of Friday the mayor had not signed the required letter he promised them.
“The UNICEF boreholes have not been maintained because no-one takes full responsibility for them. The city officials say UNICEF has not completely handed them over so they are not responsible,” Shumba said.
He explained that residents receive exorbitant bills for services they do not get from the city, and this is why they are angry. “We had to intervene and tell them help is on the way in order to prevent a riot in Glen Norah,” Shumba said.
As of Friday, there was still no water in many parts of the capital, especially the western suburbs. And the city has not developed any long term solution for the problem.

(Source: www.allafrica.com )