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Chima Azubuike
Residents of Garin Galadima, in Pindiga, Akko Local Government Area of Gombe state, have for over 40 years, depended on water sourced from flood for their daily activities. Experts, however, are warning that the unhygienic water puts the health of the residents at risk of waterborne diseases and other infections. Our correspondent, CHIMA AZUBUIKE, who visited the community reports
Water is a basic need with multiple uses for the sustenance of daily human activities. As important as water is there are still communities in the country grappling with a lack of access to clean and hygienic water.
One such community is Garin Galadima in Gombe State. The Garin Galadima community also has hamlets comprising Unguwan Malam Audu, Unguwan Malam Gambo, and Unguwan Abdu, with an estimated population of about 2,500.
Garin Galadima community yearly depends on harvested rainwater also referred to as the hard dam for survival.
The community, according to findings by our correspondent, has for the past 40 years been depending on this precarious water supply for survival. Yet, the community is now very close to the Kolmani oil field where a commercial crude oil and gas project was recently inaugurated.
A hard dam, according to experts, is artificial drilling of the earth’s surface to collect water in this case flood water during rainfall.
According to findings by our correspondent, the harvested hard dam water lasts throughout the rainy period to the dry season. Residents of the community who needs it, therefore, either come to fetch or patronise those who make a living by supplying the water to homes and families in 25 liters containers.
As of last December when our Correspondent visited the hard dam, the water sourced from rainfall since September was still available for the community members to get free water.
Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, Abdul Abdulrahman, an indigene of Garin Galadima who trades in the hard dam water said he makes a minimum of N3,000 weekly from his business. He disclosed that he supplies the water per litre at N150 with the aid of his motorcycle.
He said, “I sell water in Garin Galadima and a Jerry can go for N150. There is no specific number of people that I sell water to because water is always in high demand here. I make at least N3000 every day for this business.
“I use my bike to transport the water to Sabon Kaura, we use alum or sometimes we allow the water to go down before using it.”
Speaking about the dangers of using the stagnant want, Abdulrahaman noted that he alongside other residents in the community has experienced the negative effects of consuming the water, adding, “The water causes sickness but we don’t have a choice because it is the only source of water we have that is located close to our communities.”
He disclosed that animals are not allowed to drink from the water because of its importance to the people, adding that the animals are fed by herders and not allowed to drink directly.
“Animals don’t drink from this water if at all someone will feed the animal with the water he will have to fetch it, use a container and give it to the animals to drink,” he added.
Without rainfall, no water
Another resident of Sabon Kaura, Ahmodu Sarki, told our Correspondent that some communities have packed out to other places because of the challenge of poor access to clean water.
Sarki said, “This water is gathered as a result of rainfall we call it harvested rainfall. However, after the rainy season, it often dries up. it stays for two months after rainfall. It is the water we do some of our domestic activities with it, I fetch it for my family’s use.”
He revealed further that the last rainfall is what the community is currently consuming from the hard dam.
“The rain that fell was towards ending of October and it usually dries before November or early November, but this time around it has stayed longer,” said.
However, on the road to Garin Galadima when coming from the Pindiga community, a first-time visitor will sight tanks of pipe-borne water It was confirmed by our correspondent that these pipe-borne water tanks supply water to the town and also to private water businesses, especially to residents who don’t want to drink from the open hard dam. The government-facilitated pipe-borne water is, however, free, unlike the private borehole which comes with a price. Nevertheless, these water tanks were located metres away from Garin Galadima.
Speaking further with PUNCH HealthWise, Sarki said that everyone in the community would prefer the pipe-borne water but couldn’t get it because of the distance and the cost.
He said, “There is a tap we fetch in Pindiga we buy a jerrican for N20 then we transport it down to Sabon Kaura for our use. A 25-litre jerrican is 100 naira in Sabon Kaura but when it gets to Garin Galadima both the harvested rainwater and the tap water are N150 per 25 litres jerrican.”
Also speaking with our correspondent, another resident, who identified herself simply as Nana from Sabon Kaura, and was seen fetching the water said the hard dam water is what all the villagers depend on for survival.
She said, “I use the water for drinking and also domestic purposes at home. I fetched it for personal use, I am not selling it.”
Another resident, 40-year-old Audi Galadima, also told our correspondent that he was born and brought up in Garin Galadima, noting that it has always been difficult to access clean water in the growing community.
Galadima said, “I usually buy a jerrican of water N150 per 1 because I don’t have any means of transporting it.
“Tap water is been transported by car whereas harvested rainwater is been transported by bike and is sold for N150 for both.”
While urging the government to expedite action in connecting the communities to its ongoing water project to ameliorate the sufferings of residents, Galadima added that the government doing so would solve a major challenge for the residents of the community.
“I am calling on the Gombe State government to please help us and provide a good source of water for us because it is one of our major problems for now,” Galadima said.
Also, a 63-year-old, Mohammadu Rabi’u, who is the chief Imam of Garin Galadima, lamented the challenges of access to clean water by residents.
According to him, access to potable water is difficult because the location of portable pipe-borne water is about about 12km from the community.
“I am a dweller of this community. One of the biggest challenges we face in this community is water, we have no access to good water and even if we do it will take us 12km to access a good source of water, for the past 40 years we have been depending on harvested rainfall for survival.”
Rabi’u said water tanker operators cannot supply water to the community because of its high cost.
“At first we use to buy water from tankers who come to the village because then, our population is not as much as now and the resources are much but now we can’t afford it. There is no money and the community keeps growing so we depend mostly on the rainwater that we gathered in a sloppy area for drinking and also domestic activities,” he said.
He noted that the poor road network has also caused accidents, lamenting that the absence of a medical facility has equally negatively impacted the lives of residents.
Rabi’u added, “In the process of transporting water to my community often accident occurs which leads to loss of lives and also injuries.
“Presently, the harvested rainwater we rely on is affecting the health of many residents of this village. Many are currently on admission to the hospital because the water is not good. But, we have no choice but to drink it because not everyone is capable of buying a jerrican of tap water or transporting water from Pindiga to Garin Galadima. A jerrican of water is N150. Many people can’t afford that, hence many villagers are relocating to other communities that have water.”
The Chief Imam urged Governor Muhammadu Yahaya to come to the aid of the residents by providing clean water to the community.
“We drive 12km to get access to clean water and also if you don’t have any means of transportation you will have to buy it from those who are selling. Both the harvested rainwater and the tap water from Pindiga are N150 per jerrican.
“I am calling and pleading on behalf of the Garin Galadima community to the Gombe State Government to come to our rescue. We have been making several attempts to reach out to the government to help us but we are yet to be noticed. We are law-abiding citizens so we plead that the government should help us and make life easy for us by providing a good source of water for us to drink and also for our domestic activities,” he said.
Hard dam water stagnant, unhealthy –Expert
Speaking on the medical implications of consuming hard dam water, a Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe, Dr. Kefas Zawaya, said hard dam water is stagnant and allows other organisms to grow.
He said, “Some drainages from community toilets may also be in the flood and there will be bacteria and fungal effects that the community will be exposed to. The community members will be in and out of hospitals with typhoid fever and different forms of diarrhoea. They may also be in and out of hospitals with hepatitis A virus infection.”
While stressing the negative impact of such water, the former Nigerian Medical Association Chairman added, “Stagnant water has a lot of negative health effects implications that is why when you get to a community that depends on it, it would become a routine for people to be falling ill. As they continue to take the water, they will get infected and go to the hospital and they would soon be back at the same source of infection after treatment and fall ill again. Don’t be surprised some of them will tell you that my problem is typhoid as if they own it because of the frequent infection.”
Water purified with Aluminum Sulfate (Alum) still unclean –Expert
Aluminum Sulfate popularly called Alum is often used as a flocculant to remove unwanted colour and turbidity in water.
However, Dr. Zawaya, clarified that the use of Alum is inadequate, disclosing that it only makes water transparent and not hygienic for consumption.
He said, “People think water is clean and healthy when it is transparent, especially when they use Alum. Alum is used just to settle particles in most cases but it doesn’t take care of the microorganisms.
When you put Alum in water, you are likely to get water that is transparent when you put it in the glass. This makes them conclude that the water is okay but it is not”.
Gombe government reacts
PUNCH HealthWise reached out to the Gombe State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mijinyawa Yahaya, to know what the government was doing about the lack of access to safe water by the residents of Garin Galadima.
The commissioner said the government is not oblivious to the plight of the community.
Yahaya stated that the Gombe government has undertaken far-reaching development in the reticulation of water across the state, adding that the water project was being done in phases.
He assured that in no distant time, every community in Gombe would be reached.
He recalled that the Gombe State government recently flagged off over N11.4bn, booster water investment, where the state provided 70 per cent and the Federal Government provided 30 per cent.
The Commissioner said, “We are doing a lot to provide water everywhere within our less than four years. This administration is investing a lot of resources to ensure adequate provision of water everywhere.
“We are not happy that people are relying on the hard dam for survival. We are yet to commence the implementation of the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene Programme but very soon people will start seeing the direct benefits.”
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