Multimedia: Warren Park D residents drink from the drain

By The NewsDay | Jul. 29, 2014 | 2 Min read

A HEALTH hazard is looming in Warren Park D where a burst water pipe, unattended for two weeks, has left residents without tap water

A HEALTH hazard is looming in Warren Park D where a burst water pipe, unattended for two weeks, has left residents without tap water and relying only on the flooded drainage canals.

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Affected residents told NewsDay they had resorted to getting drinking water from the nearby Warren Hills Cemetery.

“We are forced to go to the cemetery to get water, but the officials there sometimes do not allow us to. So we sometimes end up boiling or chlorinating this dirty water,” said Nyasha Zhuwao.

Watch resident speak below:

When NewsDay visited the area, scores of residents were fetching water from the burst pipe while several children were playing dangerously close to the flooded drainage canals filled with pieces of uncollected rubbish and other debris.

A Warren Park residents fetches water from a burst pipe along 123 street in the suburb.

Another resident who declined to be named said: “This is not only a hazard to our health, but also to the lives of our children as they can drown in these blocked waterways and we urge council to take urgent action to sort out the issue.”

A women is helped up by neighbors after fetching water.

Ward 11 Councillor Tryson Moyo, whose area has been affected, blamed the council water department for not attending to water issues urgently. He promised to sink boreholes to curb the water crisis.

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“They proffer a lot of excuses, like sometimes they say they have no fuel or transport,” said the councillor.

A child plays near the end of the trail of water from the flooded canal that resulted after a pipe burst in Warren Park D.

“At ward level, we resuscitated the boreholes and established three new boreholes, and these are interventions we are making to make the situation better.”

Meanwhile, the Combined Harare Residents’ Association (CHRA) has expressed concern at the continued water crisis facing the city and the absence of a viable strategy for a consistent, equitable and affordable water service.

A Warren Park D resident fetches water along the canal that has formed after a water pipe burst.

In a resolution after CHRA’s second general council meeting held on Saturday, the residents’ body said in areas where there was a reasonable water service, the City of Harare blatantly ignores a High Court ruling on the illegality of service disconnections due to outstanding bills.

“We resolve to formulate a co-ordinated response from the residents of Harare to address the water problems.

“A water taskforce has been set up to co-ordinate campaigns and peaceful forms of resistance in demand for water,” said CHRA.

It said the continued outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases and the incessant denial by the city health officials was an “insult” to residents of Harare.