Shongedzai Mugwagwa

The District Development Fund (DDF), Department of Water has come to the rescue of Chipinge residents after the council pipes had run dry following the devastating Cyclone Idai that hit the town last month.

The eastern town had gone for over two weeks without water, a situation that exposed residents to diseases such as cholera which has already been reported in the neighboring Mozambique.

Cyclone Idai affected Chipinge Town Council water department as the only two pipes the town council had were destroyed.

DDF has put a temporary relief measure to provide the residents with clean and safe water. The clean water is being collected from a distance of over 20 kilometers using bowsers.

In an interview with one of the drivers of trucks that tow water bowsers, the Harare Post learnt that DDF supplied three trucks with 6 000 litre-water bowsers.

“Everyday we make more than three trips per each truck from Clear Water which is about 20 kilometers out of town. We are putting our all in providing safe water to the people. We are even supplying to retailers in the town,” said the driver.

The Harare Post also interviewed Head Technician of the Department of Water and Irrigation, Mr Innocent Manyonga who said that their mandate as DDF was to be there for the people they live with on a daily basis.

He added that apart from the temporary relief measures they had put up in cyclone hit areas, they are engaging in long term solutions to guarantee continued supply of clean water to everyone.

“We heard a distress call from the Chipinge residents and we decided to make sure that we supply clean water to them. We are not doing this only for the Chipinge residents but to all the cyclone idai hit areas as well as around the country.

“We have nine boreholes we are drilling in Chipinge town to help the residents to have a fall back plan in case of a water crisis of this magnitude. We are working hand in glove with the town council,” said Manyonga.

As of end of this week, council had dispatched its engineers to address the water reticulation process in the town. Investigations made by this publication indicate that in the CBD, by Saturday, the water supply had been rectified but with no power to force adequate flowing of water to the whole of Chipinge town.

DDF has been targeting areas such as Gaza which is a high density to make sure that there is no breakout of diseases.