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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Serious water shortages were last week experienced in Beitbridge following a major pipe burst on the line that supplies the town.

The hardest hit residents were those residing in the western suburbs (Dulivhadzimo South and Dulivhadzimo North), CBD, referral hospital, the border post and light industries.

Beitbridge requires at least 15 000 megalitres of water daily for its estimated 60 000 population.

Residents who have installed boreholes on their properties recorded brisk business as they were selling 100 litres of water for between R100 and R150.

Beitbridge Municipality spokesperson Mr Raniel Ndou said workers from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) attended to the fault.

He said council mobilised water in bowsers while public boreholes were fully serviced.

Prior to the burst, Zinwa had been struggling to pump water due to intermittent power blackouts since the start of the rainy season.

The town relies on a new plant with a pumping capacity of 4 300 megalitres of water per hour.

Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said recently  they had challenges with underground cables, especially during the rainy season.