By Judith Sibanda
Victoria Falls residents have gone for three days with no running water with council officials blaming the problem on the incessant power cuts. ย
Affected areas are suburbs, hotels and lodges, the central business area and industrial sites.
The situation is dire that some residents have had to resort to fetching water in the Zambezi river using undesignated entries.
Breastfeeding mothers said they felt the pinch more as the situation was now a threat to their children`s health.
“Imagine we have to wash their nappies ( babies) and clothes together with their bottles, but we can’t get clean and safe water,” Kezia Dube said.
“My child was born a month ago and l had to leave her behind today to fetch water in the river. I walked from Garikai in ward 11 to the Big Tree. The distance is almost 10 kilometers but l had no choice.”
Celia Ncube added: ” At the first l walked to Chinotimba Hall where there was a rumour that there was running water. l found lots of residents gathered there with their containers but there was no water.
“l then walked to the river and came back carrying a 25-litre bucket on my head. l wanted to wash my children’s uniforms and cook for them. We do not understand why things are turning out this way, but our lives have become more difficult every day,” she said.
Some said they drove to rural areas under chief Mvuthu to scout for water in boreholes
Hotel workers said water cuts were impacting negatively on tourism.
” We are killing the goose that lays the golden egg,” Last Zhou charged.
“A resort town must always have proper service delivery and now what is happening, especially in lodges is that tourists are rationed water to use and some even pour into buckets for them to bath. We don’t know when water will be back and if it is going to continue up to tomorrow”.
However, Combined Residents Association chairperson Morgan Dube said the fault was not with the local authority.
“Water pumps are in good condition, but the challenge is with Zesa. As you may be aware that for the past days, electricity has been going at 5 AM to 10 PM, this crisis is beyond Council,”
“This is not only affecting ordinary residents but the tourism sector as well because they will soon run out of stored water. We are engaging Council to see if maybe there can be a generator to pump water,” he said.
The Town Clerk Ronnie Dube could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone continuously went unanswered.
