Families trek to unsafe wells as taps run dry in drought-hit Zimbabwe

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

In Zimbabwe’s second city Bulawayo, Abraham Kavalanjila and his two sons give up waiting for the water to come back on and trek out into the maize fields to draw on an open well.

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City authorities say they have had to shut down water supplies for 96 hours a week - more than half the time, often in two-day blocks - to cope with a sharp fall in reservoir levels caused by the country’s worst drought in years.

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The shortages have exacerbated an economic crisis marked by shortages of foreign exchange, fuel, medicines and power that has triggered protests and political unrest.

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Authorities say the long-term answer is for Bulawayo to build a new dam 100km (60 miles) away to draw water direct from the Zambezi River.

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