The popular saying that “water is a free gift of nature” appears to be more than rhetoric to the residents of Issele-Mpitime town in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State as they solely depend on rain as their only source of water all year round.
The first thing that would probably greet a first time visitor to the community is a giant signpost erected beside the local government’s main gate along the Issele-Uku/Issele-Mpiteme Road with a bold inscription: “Tax Payers’ Money at Work.”
Well, if you think ‘tax payers’ money’ is really at ‘work’, you may be in for a shocker as our correspondent who visited the town earlier in the week would find out.
With lack of good roads, zero power supply, below average health care centre, terrible road networks and of course, lack of potable water, the signpost was a mere decoration that means the opposite of what it stands for; the tax payers’ money is working in reverse gear.
Of all the challenges facing the town, lack of potable water is the most worrisome as this town only depends on rain water all year round.
The situation, ironically, affects everybody in the town – the poor, the rich and even the mighty- everybody depends on the rain water to quench their thirst, wash, bathe and cook.
Having realised that they may have to wait till eternity for the government to fulfill its promises, especially in the area of provision of potable water, the about 10, 000 residents of the agrarian town have now taken their destinies into their hands as they individually resorted to building wells to serve as reservoirs to store rainwater for drinking and other domestic use during the rainy season.
Virtually all the households in the town have carefully channelled all the rain drops that fall on their respective roofs into their wells.
In a chat with our correspondent, some residents of the town lamented that in spite of all efforts to supplement the rainwater, like digging wells and boreholes, they have never succeeded thus making them to continue to depend on the water from heaven.
Our correspondent saw a 35-year-old expectant mother, who identified herself as Grace, struggling to draw water from the well built by her husband beside their house.
Grace, who found it difficult to pull out the pail from the well as a result of her protruding tummy, expressed her frustration over repeated efforts by her husband to provide a borehole for the family use without success.
“Everyone in the town depends on rain as the source of water for their drinking and other domestic usage. All efforts by my husband to provide borehole failed because of the topography of this town. Even the richest man in the town depends on rainwater; the man has tried all within his power to drill borehole all to no avail,” said Grace who claimed that she grew up to meet the situation like that.
[/media-credit] The well supplying the town’s health centre
Indeed, what Grace said concerning rich men depending solely on rain water as well, was not far from the truth going by our correspondent’s findings.
The Isama of Issele-Mpitime, Chief John Ikediashi, who may be described as one of the averagely comfortable men in the town, also expressed his frustration in drilling a borehole as another source of water. The only source of water to him and other members of the community is still the rainwater.
“The rain is our power; we depend on rainwater for everything in this town. We drink rainwater year in year out. We don’t have another source of water supply. The two boreholes the government constructed for us are not functioning; the government just abandoned the projects half way.http://www.punchng.com/feature/shocker-delta-community-where-residents-only-source-of-water-is-rain/

the most be water beneath .

eunisam: the most be water beneath .

is it most or must?

part of Edo Statw is facing same issue