NAIROBI,Kenya, Dec, 21 – Alice Wanjiru,a resident of Nairobi’s South B neigbourhood woke up early Tuesday morning only to realize that her taps were running on empty. Water…..the priceless commodity tantamount to life was now a source of concern, even more worrying was its expensive pursuit in the capital’s concrete jungle.
The sound of water boozers backing up to her apartment complex as the noisy pumps sought to fill her tank with water has become an almost daily routine for her. An expensive one for that matter.
Neigbours adjacent to her home are not so lucky as many find it difficult to purchase water on a daily basis.
Despite the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) announcing on Monday that a section of Nairobi residents will go without water for the next two days between Tuesday and Wednesday, Wanjiru says that in her neigbourhood, constant supply of water has always been a concern.
“In the past water was never an issue, even when others across the city used to complain. In recent months however, it is becoming a serious concern. The days we expect water and rush to fill our tanks ,we realize water is not available…how are we supposed to live? ” said Wanjiru.
Almost twice in a week she is forced to purchase water that will sustain her family. This she says is becoming an expensive endeavour.
NCWSC said that the water shutdown would start from Tuesday at 6am to 6pm on Wednesday.
“This will facilitate interconnection of the new Kiambu-Embakasi pipeline to the Ngethu pipeline at Kiambu reservoir in readiness to transfer water to Embakasi areas once the Northern tunnel project is completed,” said Nairobi Water Managing Director Engineer Nahashon Muguna in a statement.
The shutdown will affect the city centre, University of Nairobi main campus, Coca Cola factory, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, EPZ-Athi River and Mlolongo area.
Also affected include areas along Mombasa road, South B, South C and the neigbourhoods inclusing the Embakasi area.
Others areas to be affected will be, areas along Jogoo road, Maringo, Buruburu, Eastleigh, Mathare, Dandora, Lang’ata Road, Kibra, James Gichuru Road, Riverside, Westlands, Madaraka, Lavington, Kilimani and Kileleshwa estates.
Read the full list below from the NCWSC statement.
Nairobi City water is appealing to residents to sparingly use their water sources before the matter is resolved.
“We appeal to our customers for indulgence and also urge them to use available water sparingly as we work towards restoring the supply,” he said.
For many however just like Wanjiru more needs to be done in order to address the perennial water concerns.
“Ideally, we can not survive like this in Nairobi, purchasing water ona daily basis is very expensive plus you also have to factor in the electricity cost because when the authorities say that water is available when we decide to pump it to out tank its is very little and we end up using a lot of electricity for nothing,” she said.
Similar water shortages have plagued residents between February, May, June, July and September due to scheduled mainatenace according to NCWSC.
Despite the concerns, some residents have resulted to other alternatives such as boreholes in order to deal with the perennial crisis.
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