Bauchi community battling with contaminated water begs for gov’t intervention

Residents of Bakin Kura Kankarofi area in Bauchi metropolis have called for government’s intervention over the absence of pipe-borne water supply which they have been battling with in the last five years. They rely on contaminated water from broken pipes inside a culvert, which has made the community prone to water-borne diseases, especially cholera. Hundreds […]

Residents of Bakin Kura Kankarofi area in Bauchi metropolis have called for government’s intervention over the absence of pipe-borne water supply which they have been battling with in the last five years.

They rely on contaminated water from broken pipes inside a culvert, which has made the community prone to water-borne diseases, especially cholera.

Hundreds of inhabitants, including married women, young girls and children, assemble at the culvert every Tuesday to scoop water from the pipes.

A resident of the area and women leader of the WASH unit, Khadija Muhammed, who spoke to journalists, said that for the past five years, residents have been living without clean source of water supply. “Our major challenge in Bakin Kura Kankarofi is lack of pipe-borne water. All our wells have dried up and the only source of water in the community is the dirty culvert where toilet water passes through, which is why Bakin Kura Kankarofi is prone to outbreak of cholera and other water borne diseases.”

She said they only get the water supply once every week -specifically Tuesdays, a development that has negatively affected the lives of the people because the struggle for water has plunged the married women into unnecessary conflicts and quarrels while queuing for water, and the children no longer go to school.

Khadija explained that the contaminated water is what “we use to cook water, do ablution and other religious rites. Married women are forced to queue up here to fetch water and it is usually chaotic. There’s no security. We are appealing to relevant stakeholders, especially the Bauchi State government to come to our aid in order to avoid an outbreak of disease, particularly cholera.”

Another resident of the area, Alhaji Bashir Umar, popularly known as Oil & Gas, said the water problem has lasted for many years and all efforts made by the community to address the challenge were not successful. “The water pressure is not strong enough to reach individual houses, and as a result people depend on broken pipes at the culvert to get water.

Umar said, “If you look at the culvert, you will observe dirty water passing through the pipes and all around the vicinity. We made several attempts to address the issue but were not successful. We appeal to government to urgently step in to avoid cholera outbreak because the lives of our people are at risk. We are part of Bauchi metropolis yet we are not enjoying social amenities, particularly clean water.”

Managing Director of the Bauchi State Urban Water, Sewage Corporation, Engineer Aminu Aliyu Gital, hinged the history of water problems in Bauchi metropolis on previous administrations in the state, saying that the last major work on water supply took place in 1992 to meet the water demand of the state capital by 2005 which unfortunately have not been completed.

Gital said that government is aware of the situation and is doing everything possible to tackle the problem once and for all. “The ongoing World Bank project is meant to expand the facility so that water supply will be improved. It is projected to meet the water demand of the metropolis up to 2022.”

On the issue of Bakin kura community, Gital attributed it to the topography of the area which is an elevated area. “The water pressure is not strong enough to get to the elevated area so people come to major roads to fetch water with buckets and other containers. Some of the pipes are broken as a result of carelessness; and people use the opportunity to get water from those broken pipes.”

“The issue has to do with scarcity but work is in progress to boost water situation in the state, particularly Bauchi metropolis. When expansion work is completed in July 2020, the volume of water pumped will increase, and those living in high elevation areas will get regular water supply.”

He appealed to the residents of Bakin Kura Kankarofi and other communities facing water scarcity in Bauchi metropolis to exercise patience as the problems of water scarcity will be soon be a thing of the past.