Residents of Danya village in Bichi Local Government Area of Kano State, who have faced water scarcity for over 40 years, are lamenting the slow pace of work and quality of the water project being executed in the area as directed by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the governor ordered for an immediate construction of solar-powered boreholes in two villages facing acute water shortage in the state.
It was gathered that the governor raised concern about the plight of the residents of Danya and Kyallin-Bula villages, both in Bichi Local Government Area, which are about 35 kilometers away from the metropolitan area of the state.
The governor’s concern was raised after watching a report on an online television channel, showing young girls on queue at night after trekking a long distance of about 2 kilometers to fetch water in the villages.
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Worried by the situation, the governor, it was gathered, swiftly called and shared the footage to the state’s project coordinator of the Agro Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL), Dr Dahir M. Hashim, to immediately mobilise tools and logistics to construct boreholes in the two communities.
Sequel to the development, the agency mobilised to the site, conducted surveys and started drilling in search of water.
Dr Hashim said they discovered that Danya village was a low-hilled town with a very low level of underground water but they would do their best to get water for use.
The project coordinator also said that Kyallin-Bula village was a high-hilled town with high water level and it is deeper than Danya town at 100 metres and above.
“The water level in Danya village is 80 to 100 metres. Even for now, after drilling, we have got about 100 metres deep. But based on the demand of the water, we will use all the necessary tools to ensure that it comes up and reaches the desired level.
“We are completing it tonight (Sunday, March 23) and will start the drilling in Kyallin-Bula. We will do our best to make sure we provide adequate water to the consumption of the inhabitants,” he assured.
He also disclosed that based on demand, he directed for the census of all the households and population of the villages in a bid to provide the water that would be adequate for their daily consumption.
He explained that one solar-powered borehole with six taps would be constructed in Danya, expressing optimism that it would be enough for the inhabitants.
“For Kyallin-Bula, we found that there are some open wells already in existence. So, we are going to construct a borehole for them, a solar-powered also. At least we will provide clean and potable water for the people. We will also protect their daughters from sexual harassment and hazards while going to fetch water.
“Safety-wise, you would prevent children from fetching water at open wells, which is dangerous to their lives,” he said.
Hashim assured that the project would be completed within 72 hours, saying the problem of water in the two villages would soon be history.
Hashim said he could not ascertain the actual amount the project would gulp as the governor only assigned him to supervise it. He, however, added that “normally, a project like that, depending on the meters, could cost up to N13 million or so.”
During a recent visit to the project site at Danya village, Daily Trust Saturday observed that residents were lamenting the slow pace of work. They also said the quality of work would not produce the volume of water anticipated as the number of pipes to be laid is less than what is required to get enough water.
A resident of Danya, Nura Abubakar said, “Everybody in this village has complained to them that the number of pipes they laid there is not enough.
“We need to bury at least 30 pipes to get the desired water, if not, it will not get anywhere. We have seen these kinds of efforts before and they did not yield results as expected. Most of them have been grounded.
“They laid 20 pipes, but we told them that it would not get anywhere. The water they saw coming out is just to deceive themselves.”
Abubakar, who is also working on the project as a labourer, further pointed out that the work is being done alongside another one being sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau I. Jibrin, which, according to him, has been done well.
“Look at that one; it is just the same but it has brought out more water than this because they buried 30 pipes deep down. In fact, they even allowed water to come out for us to fetch until we were satisfied.
“This is what we are talking about. Honestly, the governor has good intentions to rescue us out of the problem we have been facing for ages, but the people handling the project are not doing what they are supposed to do,” he alleged.
Efforts to gate the reaction of the concerned authorities were not successful as calls put across to officials of the ACReSAL could not go through.
