By Community Water Alliance
Community Water Alliance visited the affected households in Glenview and later on Budiriro as part of their tour to assess water and sewer bursts affecting citizens under the Campaign TsimbaDzeUtano/InyatheloLokuhlanzeka recently launched to address WASH challenges in Glenview and Budiriro.
CWA staff were accompanied by members of the media during the assessment tour.
58 cases and 79 cases of serious sewer bursts were reported in Glen View and Budiriro respectively. These remain unattended to date.
Preliminary findings from the assessment revealed that there are several sewer bursts that have gone for over a month without being addressed.
The persistence of these sewer bursts is brewing a recipe for disaster in Glenview and Budiriro which are cholera hotspots.
Citizens are likely to face a double tragedy from water borne diseases like typhoid and cholera and the deadly global pandemic Covid-19 which require regular handwashing with soap under running water.
In 2008/9 Glenview recorded typhoid and cholera cases and this repeated in 2017/18.
All the cases recorded during this period were attributed to contaminated water sources emanating from sewer bursts in Glenview.
CWA noted that most citizens in Glenview are nolonger using their toilets.
Some are using buckets as toilets and later on discharge waste on the nearby open area.
This is a clear case of open defecation.
Other residents are using neighbor’s toilets who are less affected whenever they want to relief themselves and this is brewing conflicts within Budiriro and Glen View.
Sewage is flowing covering their yards especially during this rain season.
Poor drainage system and poor planning on housing has further compounded the problem.
Community Water Alliance through its *#TsimbaDzeUtano Campaign* aims to ensure sewer and water pipe bursts are addressed as early as humanly possible.
CWA proposes the following urgent interventions to prevent outbreak of water borne diseases:
1) provision of mobile toilets whilst interventions to repair all sewer bursts are formulated and implemented.
2) Distribution of hygiene kits to address health and hygiene conditions.
3) Addressing concerns raised by City of Harare officials who are currently on strike.
Workers are demanding protective clothing and payment of salary arrears.
COMMUNITY WATER ALLIANCE INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
