Gwanda town today entered its fifth(5th)day without a drop of water from the council water line forcing residents to resort to using the bushy areas to relieve themselves.
The Municipality of Gwanda disconnected water supplies to the town on Saturday after announcing that there will be major repairs at the only pump station in the town. The residents claim that council had promised to work on the repairs over the weekend and restore the water supply by Monday morning.
By late yesterday the situation in the town was very dire as the little water that the residents had collected had been used up following the extended period on the repairs.
Two primary schools in the town could not open on the first day of school due to the lack of water.
In the high density suburbs residents were seen doing open defecations as the toilets in the house could no longer be used. Groups of people were also seen making their way to the notorious Mtshabezi river to draw raw water for domestic consumption.
At least four people have drowned in the river in the last year fetching water from the unprotected watercourse as a result of the town’s inconsistent water supply.
A council official from the engineering department said that water supply should be fully restored to the town by the weekend. The official said that council had mis-timed the period they expected to do the job.
Public toilets and those in bars had to be closed off by yesterday as everyone was rushing to utilities to relieve themselves. School authorities from the schools in the town threatened to close the schools if the situation does not improve by today.
Official comment could not be obtained from the town clerk as she was said to be in a meeting.