(MENAFN- The Post)
MAFETENG
SEVEN men have been swinging picks and shovels for days.
They are digging a furrow from a small pond to an outlet tower for water to be channelled to a nearby
treatment plant.
The pond is one of the few holding what remains of the water in Rasebale Dam, Mafeteng's main water source, which has completely silted and dried up
The men want to
channel the water to the purification
plant some 300 metres away from the dam.
They know they have been reduced to“scavengers” but hope the little they can get will help ease the water crisis that has gripped Mafeteng town for more than a month.
The men, employed by the Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO), prefer to use earthmoving equipment but are afraid some of their machines would sink in the mud.
Beneath the crusted earth and patches of mud lies the 70-metre-deep Rasebale Dam that has silted due to years of neglect.
As it choked from the mud and sand washed from the surrounding areas, the dam's capacity to hold water gradually dropped
Authorities say by last year the dam could only hold 15 percent of its original water capacity.
Matters came to a head three weeks ago, just before Christmas, when the dam completely dried up, triggering a devastating water crisis in Mafeteng.
Years of severe and perennial droughts meant little water was coming into a dam getting shallow due to silting.
The gravity of the crisis is laid bare at the Mafeteng District Hospital across town.
Here, patients are using pit latrines after the management closed flushing toilets due to the crisis
A mobile tank from WASCO is the only source of drinking and washing water.
Inside, nurses and nurse aides use buckets to clean patients.
They use the few functioning wheelchairs to take the patients to the pit latrines.
They say they work in constant fear of a disease outbreak but have to soldier on for the sake of patients.
'Mabafokeng Mochela, the administrator, says keeping the hospital functioning without water is a struggle
Mochela says WASCO initially brought water tanks but the service has been intermittent.
WASCO has told the management that some of its machines have broken down.
The hospital's borehole has not worked since it was drilled five years ago.
The problem, the management says, is a broken control box which UNICEF, an aid organisation, recently pledged to help fix.
UNICEF has also promised to provide water tanks
But until that happens the management has to make do with the little water that WASCO brings in tanks from Morija, some 30km away.
Their linen is washed at Scott Hospital in Morija and Ntšekhe Hospital in Mohale's Hoek.
The hospital's matron, Matšeliso Ntefe, says in addition to their normal nursing duties, the nurses have to fetch and boil water for patients to wash.
They also have to help the patients to the pit latrines.
“It's hard work,” Ntefe says
Patricia Sekoto, the health inspector, says although the water is provided by WASCO, the hospital is using purification tablets to ensure it is safe.
The hospital has three backup water tanks but WASCO can only fill one at a time because the entire town needs water.
Across the town, businesses are also bearing the brunt of the water crisis.
Lijeng Mofokeng has tears in her eyes as she narrates how her bar, restaurant and fabric shop have been affected.
“Everything has come to a standstill in the town because there is no water,” Mofokeng says.“We are losing business.”Advertisement
Mafeteng's water crisis could intensify in the next few weeks unless there is urgent intervention.
Luma and Raleting, the other two dams in the area, are not filling up fast enough due to the little and intermittent rains.
Raleting Dam has almost dried up while Luma Dam is fast running out of water.
Bonang Moranye, the Mafeteng District Administrator, says they tried to use earthmoving machines to remove the silt from Rasebale Dam but it didn't work.
“The siltation is making it difficult for the dam to retain water,” Moranye says, adding that perennial droughts caused by climate change had worsened the situation
Moranye says they are working with WASCO and the Disaster Management Authority (DMA) to remove the silt using a process known as dredging which was recommended by a consultant before last Christmas.
Dredging is the excavation of silt material from a dam or water source to temporarily increase flow.
The silt is stirred and blown out or taken out with conveyor belts and other earthmoving equipment.
It's a process used by water authorities across the world to maintain dams, rivers and other water sources.
But in the case of Rasebale Dam, which has been completely silted, dredging is likely to be expensive and long
A water expert with the National University of Lesotho says dredging Rasebale Dam would be as good as digging a new dam altogether.
“They have allowed the dam to be completely overwhelmed by silt so it won't be easy or cheap,” he said.
“Ideally, it (dredging) is supposed to be done routinely to avoid complete silting as has happened with the Rasebale Dam.”
Moranye could not be drawn to reveal how much it would cost to dredge the dam.
He says in the meantime they have secured more tankers
They are also getting water from Tša-Litlama Dam which was originally built for irrigation.
He says if the situation worsens they will fetch water from Morija sourced from Metolong Dam.
The government also plans to drill 10 boreholes once funds are available.
A long-term solution, Moranye says, is to get water from the Makhaleng River.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the government to deal with the water crisis
Section 2, an advocacy group that seeks to protect the constitution, has called on Prime Minister Sam Matekane to declare the crisis a disaster.
Advocate Fusi Sehapi, a human rights lawyer with the Christian Advocates and Ambassadors Association, wants the MPs in the Mafeteng area to help solve the crisis.
On Tuesday the Policy, Environmental Justice and Water Resources Advocacy (PEWA) policy analyst, Lenka Thamae, said it is unacceptable for any place in Lesotho to have a water crisis.
Thamae said Lesotho only uses two percent of its water.
“Water and sanitation should be human rights claimable in law,” Thamae said at a press conference
“It is unacceptable that the people do not have water.”
He says if water and sanitation were treated as human rights, Mafeteng residents would not be struggling to access water.
Majara Molupe
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