Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
VILLAGERS in Manama area in Gwanda district have resorted to buying water from nearby villages as most water sources in their area have dried up. The affected villagers said due to acute water shortages in their area, they have been left with no option but to buy water from their neighbours.They said 40 litres of water was being sold for a $1.

The villagers from Humbane area in ward 17 said most families were failing to raise the $1 that their neighbours were demanding for 40 litres. The villagers said those who could not raise the money to buy the water, relied on one borehole which was failing to meet demand. “Those who can’t afford to pay queue for hours at the borehole that hardly produces water because the water table is now very low,” said a villager, adding: “The working class is the most affected as most can’t spend such long hours at the borehole.” The villagers said their neighbours were taking advantage of their desperate situation and were bringing water using either vehicles or donkey drawn carts to sell to them.

They appealed to the Gwanda Rural District Council and non-governmental organisations to assist by providing alternative water sources. The councillor for the area, Ephraim John Nyathi, could neither confirm nor deny that villagers were buying water. “The problem is that villagers hide some of these things from us but I have seen some trucks and donkey drawn carts moving around delivering water. I suspect these people would be selling water,” he said.

Clr Nyathi said the water situation in his area was bad for both people and animals. He said there was a form of water rationing at the borehole to allow water levels to rise so that villagers could get water. “We had situations whereby people would go in the middle of the night to collect water but that stopped when we started locking the borehole,” he said

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