By Bulawayo Correspondent

AS the water situation across the country’s major cities continues to worsen, the Bulawayo City Council has been forced to decommission one of its major sources of the precious liquid the Upper Ncema Dam.

In an interview with NewZimbabwe.com, the city’s public relations officer, Bongiwe Ngwenya said the water levels in the decommissioned dam had plummeted to about 3.82%.

“The City of Bulawayo would like to advice the public that Upper Ncema Dam has been decommissioned with effect from Saturday, 8 June, 2019.

“Bulawayo City Council further advises consumers that the current 48 hour water shedding programme remains unchanged and residents are urged to conserve and use water sparingly,” said Ngwenya.

Following the decommissioning of dam, Ngwenya said the city has remained with five sources of water.

“The city remains with five dams as available sources of surface water supply. The total operational for all the dams is 50.70%,” she said.

Bulawayo will now draw its water supplies from Lower Ncema, Umzingwane, Insiza, Mtshabezi and Inyankuni.

Bulawayo City Council introduced a 48-hour water shedding schedule in all suburbs. The country’s second largest city has for years struggled to supply adequate water to its residents.

Calls for greater investment in water sources including the stalled Matabeleland-Zambezi Water Project seem to have fallen on deaf ears. The Gwayi-Shangani Dam construction has also hit a snag.

Harare the country’s capital is also struggling with water supplies after a less than normal rain season while Zimbabwe’s largest power source at Kariba on the Zambezi has had to scale down on generation due to low water levels.