Mohammad Ibrahim
May 24, 2016
Lack of good access to clean water has forced Residents of Unguwar Kanti village located in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna state North-West Nigeria to drinks from a pond covered with dried lives.
For the people of this community, clean water is a scarce commodity in the village as women trek a distance to fetch water from the only pond serving the whole community.
It was learn that the community which is close to Kaduna main city but far from development have a total of 3000 inhabitants and surrounded by four other rural villages.
The residents there say that lack of clean water has made them drink from the pond, even though the water makes their children sick.
A housewife, Talatu Iliya seen fetching from the pond in company of other women said “The water smells and it’s covered by dried leaves, but that is what we use to cook, because we have no choice,” she said
The women lamented that their children complain of frequent stomach ache and also suffer from cholera.
“You can see the kind of water we drink. Even dogs wouldn’t drink from the pond. The water smells and that is what we use to cook our food,” she said.
It was further gathered that the only surviving well in the village was dug by a white lady as all other wells have sunk down due to nature of the soil and because they have no rings, hardly dish out more than a bucket of water to whoever is fetching.
“The water is only fetched very early in the morning. Hence the decision to reserve the well water to primary school pupils who attend the community primary school,” she explained.
The residents appealed to Kaduna State government and other international Non-Governmental Organizations to come to their aid by constructing a bore-hole that will provide water to communities in the area.
Chairman of School Based Management Committee (SBMC) Peter Alkali said during rainy season the only road linking them with other villages usually get flooded for months which means they will be stranded until the water subside.
“The School lacks chairs and other teaching materials. The pupils miss classes during rainy season, because the only route linking the community with others get flooded and so it’s not safe for them to attend classes,” he said.
