WATER SHORTAGE STRIKES NASARAWA EGGON AS RESIDENTS RESORT TO COLLECTING WATER FROM STAGNANT POOLS, PONDS
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Residents of Nasarawa State’s Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area are forced to rely on ponds, stagnant pools, and other dangerous sources of water for their daily requirements due to the severe water shortage.
People have been observed collecting muddy water from open, shallow ponds that are frequently tainted with garbage and animal excrement in a number of places.
There are now no other options for drinking, cooking, bathing, or washing except these stagnant sources, which poses major health risks to the general people.
In Angwan Kuje, a local resident, Adefu Ruth, expressed her frustration: “We’ve not had tap water here for over two months. We now depend on this dirty water because we have no choice.”
Luka Akiwa said, “And we have a Senator, Commissioner for Water resources whose residence is just about 400 meters from the site where these people fetch this water from holes.
“We also have a House of Assembly member, Councilor who came to campaign to us in our houses but can’t do anything about this.”
Another resident, Jane Albert, also echoed her concerns. “This water smells and changes color every day, but what can we do? Not everyone can afford pure water (Sachet Water) or has the means to travel far distances just to fetch clean water.”
At some point, our correspondent observed that residents were struggling to fetch water from a water tanker believed to have been donated by one of the indigenes within the community who wanted to help alleviate their sufferings.
Local leaders say the crisis is the result of several failed boreholes, dried wells and a general breakdown in public water infrastructure.
Despite the growing concerns, Muluku Aggah, the Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development in Nasarawa State, who is also an indigene of Nasarawa Eggon, has yet to address the situation publicly.
All efforts to get his reaction as at the time of filing this report proved abortive.
When this reporter visited the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development on Wednesday, the security man at the gate said the Commissioner was not on seat.
However, a staff member of the ministry, who did not want his name mentioned, said the ministry was aware of the situation and that efforts were being made to repair some of the faulty boreholes, although he could not give a definite timeline for when water supply would be restored to the affected communities.
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