Residents of Jirr Dutse, a village in Bauchi Local Government along Dass main Road in Bauchi State, get their source of water from pits excavated by illegal miners.
For over a decade, the locals have been in abject water scarcity, compelling them to dig holes in streams in search of drinking water.
The authorities in the state are yet to provide the villagers with an alternative source of water. This forced them to rely on pit water from illegal miners for their daily needs.
The commencement of illegal mining of monazite minerals in the area exacerbated their miseries as the miners turned all the streams around them into pits with contaminated water.
According to the locals, the contaminated water they rely on has exposed them to waterborne diseases hitting their children as well as the adults.
“This is how we are coping with the situation for over 10 years here. We cannot endure it now. We must look for another alternative,” A’isha, a housewife fetching water from an illegal mining pit told WikkiTimes.
What gives the locals a nightmare is that “the water from the pits would soon dry up, and the things will be worse and unbearable, yet, no option.”
She said the water scarcity in the area is the topmost challenge giving them nightmares, especially in the dry season when streams no longer flow.
According to her, it takes them several kilometres to get to where they can have access to portable water, “Is very far,” she said.
She lamented that typhoid and other diseases are common among family members in the community.
They pleaded for help from any authority to save them from catastrophe caused by contaminated water.
In 2023, N6.9 billion was budgeted for the Bauchi State Ministry of Water Resources, from which over N4 billion was earmarked for the Bauchi State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA).
Ibrahim Babagana, the mobilisation officer of the Bauchi State RUWASSA said the agency was unaware of the condition the villagers are facing due to lack of portable water.
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He advised the community to officially lodge their application for the provision of the water source to the agency’s office, which according to him, would enable them to consider the community.
“Because we cannot know all the locations,” he told WikkiTimes, assuring that “We will embark on borehole constructions and rehabilitation across all the local governments very soon, so let them write. We will give priority to those who laid their complaints in the agency.
“After the letter is submitted, they should also try to follow up to ensure their letter is considered. From then they would be given a date. they will get it,” he assured.
