Acute Water Scarcity Hits Minna, Environs

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Minna, the capital of Niger State, has been hit by acute water scarcity, forcing residents to search for water for domestic and other uses from any available source.

The scarcity, which started about a month ago, has become so serious that water vendors popularly known as (Mairuwa) sell a truck load of ten 25-liter Jerry cans between N1,500 and N2,000, depending on the location of the community where it is being sold.

The situation has also been compounded by the cessation of the rain, which has made most wells dry up.

The development has resulted in Muslims now buying sachet water to perform ablution before their regular prayers, either in the mosques or at home.

Meanwhile, officials of the state Water and Sanitation Board and those of the government have kept mum on the cause of the scarcity.

However, THISDAY’s investigation has shown that the problem started when the state government directed that the water treatment plant should be metered, a development that resulted in about N6 million credit being bought from the AEDC to power the engines and supply water to the people every three days.

According to the findings, the situation became complicated when some machines packed up and were said to require about N83million to fix them.

The government, according to findings, directed the Board to source the amount from its internally generated revenue (IGR), which officials of the Board claimed they could not raise because consumers have failed to pay water bills as a result of its epileptic supply to their homes.

A senior official in the state Ministry of Primary Health, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed fear about an outbreak of an epidemic as a result of people consuming water from doubtful sources.

He reminded the government that water pollution and consumption of unhygienic water resulted in the outbreak of cholera in August this year, which affected 12  local government areas of the state resulting in the death of not less than 16 people.