Family Braces For Water Shutdown in Nadi
Nadi resident Suraj Kumar and her family are preparing for the major water shutdown which is expected to affect more than 160,000 people living in Nadi and Lautoka next month.
The hotel worker, 50, lives with her husband, four children and grandchildren in Aladada Settlement along the Nadi back road.
“Right now all we are doing is trying to fill up buckets as we all know that from early next month there will be no water for three days,” Mrs Kumar said.
“I am worried for my children, too, and how we are going to survive for those three days because water is a basic necessity for humans.”
Mrs Kumar said she had been staying in the area with her family for more than 20 years.
Another resident, 27-year-old Sheetal Kumar said her family would start preparing in a few days as water cuts were expected to affect Nadi next month.
She said it would be quite hard for her as she was staying with her in-laws and a family at a home which housed 15 people. Mrs Kumar travels to Lautoka daily for work. She worries about her two children’s needs.
“In this house we have 10 children. We live in an extended family and have started looking for buckets to fill up so that we can have enough water when the problem comes,” Mrs Kumar said. She advised people living in Nadi to start preparing themselves for this major water problem.
According to the Water Authority of Fiji an estimated 165,000 people in Nadi and Lautoka will be without piped water supply from February 3.
However the water disruption will only be confined to residential homes. Hotels, resorts, schools and hospitals will not be affected.
Water supply will be fully restored by February 6.
The disruption is necessary because of major maintenance work to be carried out at Nagado water treatment plant.