A health crisis is looming in Chitungwiza’s Zengeza 3 suburb where raw effluent is flowing from homes, sending residents into panic mode, amid fresh fears of water borne disease outbreaks.

Every morning for the past year, residents of Manda Street in Zengeza 3 Chitungwiza have had to put up with raw sewer flowing from their homes, a situation which has resulted in an outbreak of diarrheal diseases.

“This is what we have to live with every day, this raw sewer flowing from our homes, the stench and to make it worse there is no water. We have been reporting to council but nothing is being done now we live in constant fear of our health,” said one of the residents.

Another added, “Look at me this is not my body, I haven’t been well as I was suffering from diarrhea because of this sewer. How are we expected to live under these conditions?”

“When you report to council they do not respond and when they do, they just come and poke at the main hole without fixing anything and the problem continues, sometimes they will be demanding money. Yet we pay our rates,” said another resident.

Efforts to get a comment from Chitungwiza Municipality were fruitless.

Since Monday, Chitungwiza has recorded a total of 69 suspected cholera cases.

The country has recorded a cumulative total of 12 870 suspected cholera cases, 219 suspected cholera deaths, while 148 people are still hospitalised, since the outbreak of the disease in February this year.

-ZBC News