A woman and her children fetching contaminated water from the stream in the Bimbagu community
The quest for potable water has compelled residents of Bimbagu in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District to rely on contaminated stream water to survive.
The only source of water which is a stream in the Bimbagu community is being shared by the community members and animals.
The stream is almost dried out as the dry season approaches and residents are worried about how they will get access to water.
A visit to the Bimbagu community by Daily Guide saw residents fetching the contaminated water from the almost dry stream water which looked brownish and contaminated.
The chief of the Bimbagu Traditional Area, Chief Ubor Sigom Daniel Tibila, in an interview with Daily Guide, lamented about the lack of access to potable water in the area.
He told the paper that stream water they fetch even though is contaminated, they do not have an alternative, and that for so many years they have not tasted pipe water.
He revealed that mostly, women use the contaminated water for their household chores such as cooking, bathing, washing, and other activities because they do not have any other option even though they know they are at risk of being infected with waterborne diseases.
“We know the water we drink is not clean, and we can be infected with water borne diseases but what can we do, that is the only water we have.
“Getting access to water in the community becomes worse during the drying season because the stream dries out and the only option for us to get access to water is to dig under the ground and wait for days for the water to surface then we can fetch the little that comes out,” he said.
The chief of the Bimbagu Traditional Area, therefore, appealed to organisations, NGOs, Philanthropists, and individuals come to their aid and provide them with potable drinking water.
Some women who spoke with Daily Guide indicated that they will be forced to walk long distance to other communities in search of water when the stream dries up in the dry season.
“When we walk to other communities to search for water it takes time, and by the time you come back to this community you will have limited time to do other duties such as going to the market to sell, and other economic activities which will at the end affect the family as well because you will have to work and feed the children,” one of the women revealed.
In 2010, the United Nations general assembly declared that the human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use. However, the reality at the Bimbagu community is a contravention of the above.
Sustainable Development Goal VI
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) VI, which Ghana is a signatory to, talks about ensuring available and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Meanwhile, a water system constructed by the Northern Development Authority (NDA) in the Bimbagu community has been left to rot in the community.
Information gathered by Daily Guide, indicates that the water system only needs a solar panel to power the system to enable the water to flow.
By Eric Kombat, Bimbagu