Some communities within Bauchi metropolis have decried the scarcity of potable water and have called for the state government’s intervention in view of the current cholera outbreak in the state.
Residents of Gwabba, Doya, Unguwan Kur, Adamu Jumba Road, Kandahar, Shagari, Tambari Housing Estate, among others, are currently facing the scarcity.
North East Trust findings revealed that other areas get water from the water board for less than two hours a day or twice a week. These areas include Nurses Quarters, Dass Park, parts of GRA. among others, hence many residents now rely on rain water.
Investigation revealed that the ongoing World Bank assisted Water Rehabilitation and Expansion Project in the state has reached 60 per cent, but work has recently been slow with reports that some of the contractors have left their sites.
A resident of Adamu Jumba Road, Garba Mohammed, said the community had not a seen a drop of water since June when a road construction company removed all the major pipes in the area.
He said, “We now depend on rainfall to get clean drinking water because majority of the wells are contaminated and we fear being infected with cholera.”
A resident of Gwabba, Malam Sani Abubakar, claimed that the scarcity of water had was one of the causes of the cholera outbreak in the area.
A resident of Rafin Zurfi, Sunday Daniel, told North East Trust that, “The water board has since the beginning of the rainy season stopped supplying water to us, and people now get water from commercial boreholes.”
When contacted, the General Manager of the Bauchi Water Board, Engr Aminu Gital, blamed hoodlums for the scarcity.
He said the hoodlums had vandalised one of the chambers that led to a major pipeline.
Engr Gital explained that, “Some hoodlums broke a chamber where they vandalise the air release valves in the chamber which led to the breaking up of a major pipeline of water. Another reason why some areas witness inconsistent water supply is the rehabilitation of one of the tanks behind Zaranda Hotel due to the road construction in the metropolis.”
Gital further said the board had already fixed the broken pipe and was working to ensure that all the areas that witnessed low supply due to road construction and other local problems were fully addressed.
He said, “The ongoing water rehabilitation and expansion has not been completed, but I don’t think there is any part of the city connected by the pipes that stays more than two days without water supply; not to talk of a week.”
The general manager appealed to residents to exercise patience with the board as the agency was working assiduously to ensure constant supply of water to all parts of the metropolis.
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