Time to end water woes
The common phrase ‘water, water everywhere… nor a drop to drink’ could very well apply to Tanzania. The country is the only one in Africa to be surrounded by four major water bodies- the vast Indian Ocean and lakes Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyasa- not to speak of scores of rivers and small lakes. Yet about 30 per cent of the population still cannot access clean water, leaving women in rural areas walking for miles to fetch a single bucket of water.
It is interesting to note that a country with the size of Tanzania (945,087km square) has only one trans-territorial water pipeline which draws water from Lake Victoria to the regions of Mwanza, Shinyanga and Tabora.
Of course it is understandable that building the water supply infrastructure is very costly for a country that has numerous priorities and limited budgetary resources.
There is light at the end of tunnel, however. India is ready to share its success in rainy and ground water harvest to Tanzania. A senior official from the Indian Water ministry visited the country last week and said the Asian country, which has already contribute $1 billion to Tanzania’s water sector in 13 years is read to share the know-how with Tanzania as part of efforts to make water woes history. Specifically India is ready to share with Tanzania its water recharge techniques. This is good news and if well utilized it will go a long way towards reducing water problems to Tanzanians.
