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Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
SOME parts of Victoria Falls’ Mkhosana and Mfelandawonye suburbs are without water after some elephants unleashed a reign of terror, uprooting water taps and meters in the resort town.

The elephant menace comes at a time when the council is losing more than 30 percent of treated water every month.

Traditionally, elephants are popular on the streets in the resort town but the latest development has affected residents as large volumes of treated water are gushing out resulting in closure of main pipes due to the damage.

Residents are now up in arms with the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority for being “inconsiderate.”

The Chronicle news crew visited some of the affected houses in Mfelandawonye on Saturday where a trail of destruction caused by the jumbos is evident.

A house had been marooned in water after a tap was uprooted on Thursday and by Saturday, the council was still to attend to it.

Residents, who suspect one jumbo to be responsible for the destruction, said they feared their children would be exposed to waterborne diseases.

Vonayi Sandeka said the jumbos have been terrorising residents for the past week.

“We’re living in fear due to these elephants. They uprooted my tap and that of my neighbour.

Water has been flowing everywhere and the council told us to replace the pipes,” said Sandeka.

Said Sandeka: “We reported the matter to Parks and Wildlife Management Authority on several occasions. We wonder why they are not taking action. We’ve lost lives before so they should shoot these problem animals before this happens again. We fear the council will also bill us for this loss.”

Mayibongwe Ndebele, 35, said his meter and tap were uprooted on Thursday and water had been gushing out until late on Saturday when council plumbers attended to the damage.

“We reported to the council on Friday and we were told to buy the meter. We’ve no money and I don’t even know what to do. As you can see, the house is now marooned and we also have minor children who might drown if the situation continues like this,” he said.

The elephants invade the suburbs at night in search of banana plants, vegetables, guavas and other fruits and water.

Victoria Falls Municipality plumbers had to turn-off water on some sections of Mfelandawonye on Saturday so they could attend to the damage.

Ward 11 Councillor, Edmore Zhou, whose ward is the worst affected, appealed to Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to urgently address the situation.

“I would want to urge Parks to do something because I’ve received a number of reports and am touched by the plight of these people.

“Most of them are poor and won’t be able to replace these taps. We’re still trying to help a family whose house was recently destroyed by the elephants. There are many residents whose houses have no water because of the same elephants.

“We believe there is one elephant that’s causing this damage, from the way residents put it. The rangers should kill it. Our appeal is for the responsible authority to help the affected people,” he said.

Clr Zhou urged residents to report all incidents immediately. He also assured them that no one would be over-billed for the lost water.

The Town Clerk, Christopher Dube, visited the affected residents and expressed concern at the amount of water that the council was losing. He said council was losing 34 percent of treated water due to such damages.

Dube also assured residents that no one would be billed for the lost water.

“We know about the damage as we’ve received reports. What we didn’t know is that it’s one elephant that’s causing these problems. The elephant has become dangerous and should be kiled,” he said.

Parks and Wildlife Authority spokesperson, Caroline Washaya-Moyo had not responded to questions e-mailed to her on Thursday.