BINDURA Town Council (BTC) says it is now targeting Masembura Dam as a source of clean water supply as a strategy to circumvent highly polluted water bodies due to illegal small-scale mining activities in the area.
Responding to concerns raised by stakeholders from Mashonaland Central Province during the 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) organized by the Economic Justice For Women's Project (EJWP) Tuesday, Bindura Ward 6 Councilor, Oliver Mukombwe bemoaned rampant pollution of water bodies.
"We get our water from Mazowe River but mining activities in Mashonaland Central Province continue to defile the water sources. Indeed, we are currently spending much more money than what Harare spends cleaning our polluted water," he said.
He said in the recent past, the local authority once roped in officials from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) to stop mining activities along Mazowe River in an operation which worked briefly before it resurfaced again.
"The local authority has since tabled plans to draw water from Masembura Dam using a pipeline which runs straight to the Bindura Waterworks. The plans were arranged about two years ago and we are now awaiting government approvals," he said.
The project is set to establish a 25-kilometre water pipeline from Masembura Dam to the capital of Mashonaland Central Province.
The government and Freda Rebecca Mine are part and parcel of the tripartite arrangement. The collaboration, which involves the government, will lead to the construction of a self-contained smart city at Bharasi Farm, about 10 kilometres from the Central Business District.
Records also show that obsolete equipment has dogged the Town's efforts to maintain a steady water supply over the years.