Quelimane goes thirsty after taps run dry – Notícias

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Quelimane goes thirsty after taps run dry – Notícias

11:46 CAT | 11 Sep 2017

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More than 300,000 Quelimane residents have been without water since Friday, following a major failure in the main pipeline from the pumping station to homes. First noticed early on Friday evening, the breach has mainly affected the city’s business district and some neighbourhoods in the outskirts, Notícias reports.

Technicians from FIPAG and the Quelimane City Council have been on the ground repairi g the damage, which occurred within a few metres of the company’s main facility.

Notícias learned on site that main water main fractured flooding the Avenida Herois d Libertação Nacional outside the central market in the Zambézia provincial capital.

At the site, a six-metre-deep crater has been dug to reconnect the pipe, but pending resolution, residents are struggling to source water for their daily needs, with many already resorting to wells and boreholes which pose a potential health hazard.

Residents of several neighbourhoods were unsuccessfully seeking to supply their minimum needs at the company’s headquarters, but FIPAG security guards were not allowing people with small containers to enter, only vehicles with large tanks.

ngelo José, a resident of the Icriente neighbourhood, ten kilometres from the city centre, had been trying to convince the security guards to grant him access to the company’s reserves from 6:00 a.m. yesterday.

Fátima Cardoso, a resident of Vila Pita, said that the water stocks she had at home had been exhausted. She said that she had tried unsuccessfully to stock up since 5:00 a.m. but could not source even a single drop.

“The company must understand that this is an emergency situation. While the breakdown is being repaired, it must give us water in small containers, but it is not allowing people to enter,” she said.

When approached by Notícias, FIPAG technical head said he would only speak after the fault had been repaired, but from Friday until noon yesterday, there was no indication of the water supply resuming.

The city of Quelimane has more than 400,000 residents, of whom 300,000 are directly affected by the crisis. The exploration hole dug to investigate the interruption of supply Has also diverted traffic on Avenida Herois da Libertação Nacional.

By Jocas Achar

Source: Notícias