Borehole restores water access after ten years in Antanimalandy
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on L'Express de Madagascar
A new borehole was commissioned on Monday in sector 7 of Antanimalandy, Madagascar, after ten years without access to water. The Boeny Regional Directorate for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene carried out the project with funding from the ministry responsible for water, according to L’Express de Madagascar.
A new borehole was commissioned on Monday in sector 7 of the fokontany of Antanimalandy, in Mahajanga, after ten years without access to water, L’Express de Madagascar reports. The project was carried out by the Boeny Regional Directorate for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and funded by the ministry responsible for water. A private individual donated the land where the borehole was installed.
A resident explained that people had been drinking muddy water or travelling far from home to fetch water from as early as 3am. In winter, the water points they used dried up, she told L’Express de Madagascar.
The shortage affects a large part of Mahajanga district, where most of the 26 fokontany have reportedly been without water for decades. Jirama, Madagascar’s state water and electricity company, produces 27,000 m³ of water a day, against estimated demand of 34,000 m³. Its project to improve access to drinking water aims to modernise infrastructure to reduce this 7,000 m³ shortfall and meet population growth.
The borehole’s return to service comes as rain has become scarce in the region: only one rainfall event was recorded in October, while temperatures have remained high for several months, the newspaper reports.
