Water scarcity: Vendors in Bauchi make brisk business

A Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) monitoring the situation, reports that most of the public taps in the town, had gone dry in the last one week, just as the cost of a Jeri can of water increased from N20  to N50  .
Malam Umaru Ali, a water vendor, told NAN that they had to pay huge amount of money to fetch water from private bore hole owners, as such were forced by the situation to effect 100 per cent increase in the price of jerican .
“The public boreholes where we fetch water had gone dry and the commercial borehole operators charge us exorbitantly due to the cost of diesel.
“Since we are in business to make profit and feed our families, we have no option than to transfer the cost to our customers,” he said.
Another  vendor, Husaini Musa, said that their business was booming , adding that people rush to buy water from them.
“People even book in advance in spite of the increase in cost. Water is something that every household needs.” he said.
Some residents, who spoke to NAN, said that the situation was worrisome, especially now that water was vital to sustain the fight against Ebola and other diseases.
“Personal hygiene, especially frequent hand washing and ensuring the cleanliness of toilets, is paramount and can only be sustained when there is adequate water supply.
“Now that water is scarce, I will not be surprised if the situation results in outbreak of water-borne diseases,” said Helen Makama, a housewife and Bauchi resident.
Gidado Abubakar, another resident , lamented that the situation was affecting the education of his children as they had to look for houses with wells to fetch water before going to school.
“They always go to school very late. My worry is that apart from reporting late, they get to school very tired after fetching water for domestic use,” he complained.
Contacted for his comment on the situation, the General Manager of Bauchi State Water Corporation, Engr. Aminu Gital, attributed the scarcity to power outage at the main water treatment plant in Gubi town.
He explained that there was a major fault in the power cable from Bauchi metropolis that supplies electricity to the dam.
According to him, they have been making efforts in the last three days to identify the exact spot of the fault, without success.
He however assured residents that they had not relented in their effort, saying that normal water supply would be restored as soon as the fault was detected and rectified. (NAN)