Acute water shortage drying Katsina residents’ throats, pockets

For Malam Halilu Mohammed and his family, acute water shortage and the heat have made life unbearable at his Kofar Kaura Layout residence in Katsina metropolis. Mohammed says every day he buys a cart from water vendors for N300, which his family uses for cooking and other house chores. The pipes in his house have […]

For Malam Halilu Mohammed and his family, acute water shortage and the heat have made life unbearable at his Kofar Kaura Layout residence in Katsina metropolis.

Mohammed says every day he buys a cart from water vendors for N300, which his family uses for cooking and other house chores.

The pipes in his house have been rusted, he says, because the state water board hasn’t supplied a drop of water in the last four years since he moved in, after he was transferred to the state.

Mohammad is not alone in this ordeal. Across the state, millions of Katsina residents have been grappling with water shortages.

One of them is Lawal Saidu of Sabuwar Unguwa. He said water is hard to come by in his area as he has to buy water twice daily. According to him, if one tries to calculate the cost in a year, it would be quite significant.

Saidu said as at last week, he bought a cart for N500 because the demand was high, noting that this week he was happy to buy at N350.

He said the situation is so bad that even Almajiris now beg for water to drink. “They knock and ask for water please,” he said. “The temperature is too high close to 41 degrees.”

For Muhammad Danjuma Katsina who resides at Tafawa Balewa Way, Kofar Kwaya, in the past 17 years, he has not witnessed a situation like this.

“I was opportuned to be living in an area where a large pipe passes through that supplied us water. But in the last one month it has been terrible,” he said.

He said a gallon of water sells for N80 in some areas, noting that not many can afford such and coupled with the heat, the need for water is high.

“Katsina metro is facing the worst portable water shortage in its history so far,” he added.

For Mr. Francis Gabriel Sardauna, the situation was so bad it forced him to relocate from his area of previous residence at Kwado.

“First, count out supply from water board. I don’t know if they even exist,” he said. “Water vendors are our hope but of recent you don’t see them and you can’t live without water.”

“People hunt for them, and whenever you see them, customers are with them so they don’t get hijacked along the way,” he said.

In the void, borehole drillers are making a killing by charging between N300,000 to N500,000 for residential and commercial boreholes. People now contribute to build a borehole and share amongst their houses for steady water supply.

A commercial borehole operator, Madam Gloria said the demand for water is so high she is hardly ever with a full tank as water vendors line up as early as 5am to buy water.

But due to poor power supply, they mostly rely on generators to pump water and this has forced them to raise prices.

A recent survey shows that portable water production by all the state water facilities is well below 50 percent of their installed capacity. Breakdowns in facilities have been blamed for this.

In 2015, the state government commissioned a committee on water resources and its findings showed that the metropolis has a water requirement of 115,000 MCM but only 50,000 MCM is being made available to over four million residents.

Katsina metropolis and other parts of the state, according to the report, falls below the 10 percent of the World Health Organisation’s standard of 300 litres per day per individual.

Other findings showed that at present the ground water sources are estimated to be 30.3 MCM while the current requirement is about 80 MCM which is increasing to 138 MCM by the year 2020. This forecasts inadequate ground water resources in comparison to the sustainable potential resources of 642MCM.

For water vendors, like Sada Ibrahim, business has increased with a 100 per cent rise in prices. Sada sells about ten carts daily during the dry season.

“Selling water is a flourishing business but also tasking and energy sapping. It doesn’t cost much to have a cart and jerrycans for the job.  It pays to supply water,” he said.

Sada has other carts he rents out for a daily commission.

Ibrahim Kabobi, another vendor, said it takes him about three hours to queue for his turn at the pumps.

“Water vendors are increasing and boreholes are not many,” he said.

The increase in price, he said was from commercial borehole operators raising their prices from N50 to 70 or 80.

Managing director of the State Water Board, Babangida Abubakar, says regular water supply to the residents of Katsina metropolis will resume after installation of new pumping machines at Ajiwa Dam.

Abubakar said government decided to replace the old pumping machines with new ones to ensure constant water supply to the residents.

“The pumps were installed for over 10 years, they are now giving us problems, anytime we repair them, they will last for only two to three days because they cannot supply enough water to Katsina metropolis due to increasing population.

“People should bear with us, as the government is taking measures to address the situation.

“As I am speaking to you, the government has already ordered for new and effective pumping machines from Germany. We are expecting their arrival in Lagos,” he said.

The state commissioner of water resources, Gambo Dandume said. “We have placed an order for a new pumping machine about three to four months ago with delivery expected to be made by April 8,  each pump costs about N94m. When installed, it will ease the suffering of Katsina people in the area of water supply, and the issue of scarcity will be addressed once and for all,” he said, adding that by the end of the month the situation is expected to have been resolved.

Other steps taken by the government to address the situation are the expected commencement of water supply from the Zobe Dam

However, the commissioner said theft and vandalization of the pipes and other equipment have delayed the commencement of the project.

Katsina metro is being supplied water from the Ajiwa Dam Water Works that has a capacity of treating 50 million litres per day at ideal situations for both domestic, commercial and industrial purposes. However, It is now in a dilapidated condition and operating at 40% of its capacity.

In 2016 the state Government awarded about N3bn contract to restore the capacity of both the dam and the treatment plant at N1,996,861,690.85 with 40% advance payment of N798,744,676.34 already made to the contractor.

With all these contracts awarded, Katsina residents like Halilu Mohammed and Lawal Saidu will be anxious for water supply to resume as soon as possible. But in the meantime, they will continue to wallow in heat and acute water shortages that are causing dry throats and dry pockets.