Kaduna residents decry lack of portable water
Water is one of the basic requirements of man but its provision in Nigeria has continued to face a lot of challenges.
While majority of the people in the rural areas of Kaduna State do not have access to water from the well, some parts of the urban cities do not also have pipe borne water as a lot of women and children still suffer to move around every morning in search of water.
Musa Adamu who resides in Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna State told our correspondent that they don’t have portable water in the area, saying that they drink well water and use it for bathing, washing and cooking, among other needs.
On whether they boil the water before drinking, he said, “We don’t boil the water, we drink it like that, because for how long shall we continue to boil water and for how many people, so we just drink the water like that with the hope that it will not hurt us.”
In Karatudu, a community in Chikun Local Government Area, there is no pipe borne water, only the rich members of the community make provision for borehole in their houses while those who cannot afford to dig a borehole rely on well and water from the river.
Mrs. Hannatu Michael said that they only enjoy the wells during rainy season as the water dried and cannot serve the people living in the house during dry season.
He added: “Sometimes, we sit by the well waiting for the water to come and in the process of rushing to be the first to fetch the little water in the well, it gets dirty and we have to wait again for the water to settle but in events where we cannot wait for the particles to settle, we use the water like that. We also use the river water. Our children bath with it but this river sometimes gets contaminated with waste from industries, thus, rendering the water useless.
“I think government needs to do more in the area of water because water is life, water sustains life. In fact people can survive without electricity but they cannot without water. So we call on government to come to our aid and make life good for us.”
Comfort Akogu, a resident of Kakuri in Kaduna South said that they don’t have easy access to pipe borne water, adding they move around every morning with buckets in search for.
“The problem with the water is that it looks clean when fetched but sometimes, the particles will settle under the water. I wonder what’ll happen if one drinks the water immediately after fetching, maybe that is why typhoid fever is rampant in the area.”
Mr. Philip Olabisi, who reside at Nassarawa area of Kaduna South, said that there is pipe borne water in some parts of the area while some don’t have.
“The area where I live, there is no tap water, we rely mostly on well water, those who can afford to buy sachet water for drinking purpose do while those who cannot, drink well water. I spend over N4, 000 every month on purchase of water, which is too much for somebody like me who is managing,” he said.
A situation assessment carried out in 18 communities across nine LGAs of the state by Kaduna Civil Society Coalition on water and sanitation with support of the State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) in 2012 revealed that water treatment plants of the water board are not functional in these LGAs.
The ones at Birnin Gwari, Saminaka and Ikara are not functioning while those at Kaduna, Kafanchan and Zaria are operating below capacity and supply is not regular. Also, most hand pump boreholes provided by the state and local governments have broken down.
The report read in part: “Only six out of 100 cited in the assessment were found functional. The bottom line is that most residents and communities rely on wells and rivers for their water needs. While the wells are relatively safe, if appropriately constructed and covered, but this is not always the case, and the rivers are certainly not safe sources of drinking water. As a result, illnesses including diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and typhoid among other are common in areas where there is safe water.”
Increased access to safe water will help reduce the burden of water borne and related illnesses which currently account for 80% of all diseases, according to the World Health Organisation in 2011.