Tue, 12 Sep 2017 10:48:03 +0000
By John Kombe
CHONGWE District Council will harvest water from the Chongwe River to help ease erratic supply.
“Water blues are an annual dread come year-end in Chongwe, but this will not be the case from this season henceforth,” Town Clerk Levis Mumba has said.
Chongwe has been prone to water blues for a very long time and the residents have had to endure the embarrassment of queuing up for water that is supplied by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in water-bauzers when the commodity becomes scarce towards the close of the year when the water levels are low.
Mr Mumba said the council is undertaking a project to harvest water from the Chongwe River which is the source of the district’s water supply.
“The water is usually lost towards the end of the year before the rainy season as the water flows downstream living the water level very low for pumping,” he said.
He said the Council’s water engineering department is constructing a wall to be used in the event of the perennial water blues.
He has thanked Lafarge who have pledged cement to be used in the project and appealed to the community and the corporate world to come on board and join hands with the local authority in this undertaking.
This is a huge venture for a council which has limited resources against the vastness of the town and its needs.
Mr Mumba said that the council has since written to some corporate entities to assist the project with such items as wire force, crushed stones and any other assistance necessary to make the project successful.
Mr Mumba has assured residents that the project is expected to be completed very soon and the community must be assured of adequate water supply from this year.
He said that the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company Limited and SINO HYDRO were also undertaking long-term projects in the district that would further improve the water reticulation in the newly upgraded district. Boreholes will be sunk and piping done by the two entities and will be a plus to the town and the council will have no worries about the water and sanitation issues in the town.
