The Katsina State Government said it would tax borehole owners and operators in the state as part of measures aimed at generating revenue for the state and also to address indiscriminate drilling of borehole by several private houses in the state without following due processes
The State Commissioner for Water Resources, Alhaji Salisu Gambo Dandume, told newsmen on Saturday in an exclusive interview, that the situations where owners of private houses embark on drilling of boreholes even without observing the mandatory kilometer spacing have become worrisome. He further assured that the State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, RUWASSA, shall be strengthened to enforce laws the drilling and installation of bore holes in the state. In a related development that the State Government has assured that the recent water scarcity that hit the state in the past two weeks shall be over by the end of April following the expected delivery of two new water pumping machines on April 8 which when installed will immediately boost water supply in the state. The Commissioner attributed the scarcity water in the state to the failure of the water pumping machines to deliver supplies. He said ’’the water scarcity that is noticeable in the state is largely caused by the failure of the water pumping machine, which has aged between 5-6 years now, and has experienced inadequate maintenance and lack of spare parts’’. ‘’We have placed an order for a new one, 3 to 4 months ago with delivery expected to be made April 8.each pump costs about N94m’’ ‘’When installed it will ease the suffering of Katsina people in the area of water supply, and the issue of scarcity will be addressed once and for all Alhaji Dandume also disclosed that the expected commencement of water supply from the Zobe Dam project represents another big relief in the delivery of water to the people. ‘’The delay in commission the Zone water project was caused by series of testing the project was subjected to. We tested the water pressure and the booster pumps and the area gravity that should empower water supply’’ “We encountered canalization of some Zobe water pipelines and stealing of heavy water metals which needed repairs all of which contributed to the delays’’ Investigations by The Nation revealed that some of the areas affected by the scarcity include: Layout, GRA, Dandagoro, Rafindadi, Abatour, Kofar Sauri, and Goruba Road among others. Residents combed the streets with their kegs to fetch water from any available sources, while water vendors were seen crowding available water boreholes in vain, waiting to buy water and sell to their growing number of customers.
Source: Today.ng
