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Michael Magoronga Midlands Correspondent
The District Development Fund (DDF) is set to sink 20 new boreholes here  before year end as the Government  moves to avert water challenges affecting humans and livestock.

District Development Coordinator for Midlands Mrs Molly Shonhiwa said the project would also see the rehabilitation of existing water facilities as the Government moves to avert water challenges caused by climate challenges.

“It is our responsibility as a department to provide water facilities in the communal areas. For that reason we are targeting to sink about 20 boreholes across the provinces in 2019,” she said.

Although the number of water facilities set for resuscitation could not be ascertained, Mrs Shonhiwa said her department was moving to rehabilitate broken down boreholes as well as deepen existing boreholes.

“There is nothing really that we can do about climate change, the only thing we can do is to ensure that we deepen the existing boreholes to ensure that they reach the receding water table. There are, however, some areas where water facilities are far and we are moving in to sink new boreholes so that people will not have to travel longer distances to access water,” she said.

Mrs Shonhiwa said, while she appreciated that climate change had caused serious problems not only in the province, but across the country, they were going to do all they can to ensure that humans and livestock access clean water.

“We really appreciate that due to the weather patterns that have changed water facilities have become a problem, but resources permitting, we are going to ensure that there is water for all the communities so that every human being as well as livestock has access to water,” she said.

Mrs Shonhiwa also urged villagers to desist from stream bank cultivation as it worsened the situation due to siltation.

“The water situation has resulted in some people moving to stream banks. But I want to urge villagers to avoid staying along riverbanks as it results in siltation of water bodies resulting in even increased problems in the future as we will need to de-silt the water bodies,” she said.

The timely intervention is set to ease water woes in the province mainly as a result of low rainfall patterns during the 2018-19 summer season owing to climate change.