AS the world prepares to mark ‘Water Day on 22 March,’ there is good news for residents of the Islands the prolonged water crisis in many places is soon coming to an end.
Authorities say that despite huge efforts that have been taken by the government to improve water supply, still there is a shortage of more than 234 million litres of water to meet the daily demand in Unguja and Pemba.
The current production of water is 162.62 million litres. In the Urban-West region, the water availability is 63 percent of the daily demand, in Unguja North region is 48 percent and 50 percent in Unguja South region while in Pemba, the availability of water has reached 83 percent in north region and 87 percent in South Region.
The government says a big water project worth USD 23.673 million loaned from the African Development Bank (ADB) is being implemented in the Urban West Region with installation of 68 kilometres water pipelines and water tanks.
A statement from the government says “All these ongoing operations undertaken by STECOL Company from China will be completed by April 2019, and upon its completion it will increase the availability of water in the urban west region from 67 million litres to 81 litres per day, an increase of 20.9 percent.” It says that another big proj-ect worth
USD 92 million, a loan issued by the Exim Bank of India, will be undertaken to improve water supply in West A and West B districts on Unguja islands with the CRUCS Company from India overseeing the implementation of the project, which is about to start. The minister responsible for water Ms Salama Aboud Talib said in addition, a big water project that was undertaken by the ‘China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC)’ geared to improve water supply in North and South Regions of Unguja was successfully completed last month (December, 2017).
She said the same month (last December), 26 out of the 150 wells that were drilled through the assistance of the government of Ras al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) had been completed and a total of 14 wells had been in the final stage of completion. The news about government’s efforts to overcome water crisis in its urban and rural areas comes at the time when complains against water shortage continues including call for water desalination.
Desalination is a process to remove salt from seawater making it suitable for human consumption and many people living close to the beaches and even in some tourist hotels complains about water being polluted by the ocean water. Desalination is regarded to be an expensive project, but in efforts to solve water problems in Zanzibar, some investors and development partners have also started to purify or distill the salty water so that people can use it.
Some analysts say clean water has become like a luxury for the people in places like sub- Saharan Africa, because most of the people still spend entire day searching for it, which limit their ability to engage in other development activities.
It is thought that by the year 2025, the situation may become worse when two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages, and that the problems needs to be highlighted and re-emphasized over and over again so that everyone takes role. Water scarcity or lack of safe drinking water is one of the World’s leading problems affecting more than 1.1 billion people globally, meaning that one in every six people lacks access to safe drinking water.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) defines safe drinking water as “water with microbial, chemical and physical characteristics that meets WHO guidelines or national standards on drinking water quality.” World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water.
The theme for World Water Day 2018 is ‘Nature for Water’ –exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century. Sustainable Development Goal No-6 commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and includes targets on protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution.
Water is also vital for agriculture, industry, transport and the production of energy and is an engine for economic growth. It generates and sustains jobs worldwide and Water quality and sanitation remains essential in providing a decent livelihood. The WHO also estimates that of the 2.3 million workrelated deaths every year, 17 percent can be linked to communicable diseases and unsafe drinking water.
This is why safe drinking water and sanitation at the workplace must become priorities everywhere. The 2016 United Nations World Water Development Report estimates that some two billion people require access to improved sanitation and water, with girls and women especially disadvantaged. Many developing countries are in water stress hotspots, and likely to be hit hardest by climate change.
At the same time, demand for water is soaring, especially in emerging economies where agriculture, industry, and cities are developing at a fast pace. Environmentalists and activists also link water shortage to excessive and unsustainable human consumption, and overuse of water across the board and in all forms of industrial processes such as Non-sustainable domestic practices such as leaving taps running when water is not needed.
Other causes of water shortage include poor or lack of management of existing water resources, and uneven distribution of water resources–regions that have excess supplies do not divert resources to areas where it is needed.
Pollution remains one of the biggest problems in which authorities do not do enough to penalize industrial use companies that illegally dump chemicals and oils into stressed water systems. Effects and Severe Consequences of Water Shortages are many including spending less time on other development activities for women, and Gender Based Violence (GBV) including being abused by rapists while children and women walk long distance or wake-up very early in search for water.
The Zanzibar Water Authority (ZAWA) communication officer Mr Zahor Suleiman says as the government takes necessary efforts in ending water crisis, self discipline in using water also helps to minimize water, example ‘Do not keep taps running while water is not needed, switch the tap off while brushing teeth.”
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