‘Why Sokoto is experiencing water shortage’

Lack of planning and poor maintenance has been identified as the major factors militating against adequate water supply in Sokoto.

“The population was growing but nobody was planning. The capacity of the water board in Sokoto is still enough, the only thing is, we refused to take care of the machines,” stated Alhaji Umar Muhammad Bature, immediate past Commissioner for Water Resources.

He added: “The water distribution network has been there since 1988, about 31 years now, because there is expansion and pipelines did not reach some areas, that is why they do not have water.”

Bature said when he took over as the Commissioner for Water Resources in November, she came up with an action plan.

“The first of that action plan was to restore the capacity of machines. The second action plan was to improve on the distribution network and the third was to make sure we have enough storages.”

He disclosed: “We have restored capacity from zero to at least 60 percent. At the main Water Intake, we have restored four out of six pumps, and efforts were on to fix the remaining two.”