Zimbabwe’s Second-Biggest City Extends Water-Supply Cuts
Zimbabwe’s Second-Biggest City Extends Water-Supply Cuts
Zimbabwe’s second-biggest city of Bulawayo will extend interruptions to water supplies because of depleting resources, the town clerk said.
Outages will increase to 96 hours a week from Nov. 25, Christopher Dube said in an emailed statement on Thursday. Last month, the city imposed a 72-hour water-cut program and said it would review the length of time if there was no improvement in reservoir levels.
“The program is being reviewed in a bid to stabilize the reservoirs and prevent them from depleting further,” said Dube.
Water resources are being stretched by power cuts to dams, growing water usage and the decommissioning this month of the Umzingwane dam, which is only 4.85% full following a drought. All residential areas are affected by the water cuts, with an exemption extended to industrial areas, mines and the central business district.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ray Ndlovu in Johannesburg at rndlovu1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Dulue Mbachu
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.