756 people treated after drinking acidic water

 
 
 
By ALEX NJOVU 
 
GOVERNEMNT says 756 people in Mufulira drank tap water contaminated with sulphuric acid from Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) on Wednesday and yesterday.
The majority of the victims, 500 were treated and discharged from Ronald Ross Hospital and 256 at Malcolm Watson Mine Hospital in Mufulira, Copperbelt Province Minister, Mwansa Mbulakulima, said in an interview yesterday.
But four were still admitted to hospital.
Mr Mbulakulima said the pollution problem had been brought under control and water supply to homes would be restored before the end of today.
Mufulira District Commissioner, Dyford Muulwa, said the victims were treated for various ailments mainly abdominal pains associated with diarrhoea and vomiting.
Mr Muulwa said the situation had been brought under control and Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) yesterday began to flash out the acidic substances from the water network system.
Town Clerk, Charles Mwandila, said people were walking long distances to fetch water from the southern part of the mining town because the water utility had shut down the treatment plant to prevent further contamination of water.
Mr Mwandila indicated the water firm might resume water supply to homes by today.
And a special committee appointed by Mr Mbulakulima to investigate the contamination yesterday went underground MCM to assess the cause of the acid spill.
“Officials from the Mine Safety Department and Environmental Council of Zambia and the local authority went underground checking on the water pumping system,” Mr Mwandila said.
“We are expected to present the technical report to relevant Government institutions.”
He said the director of the National Water and Sanitation Council, Osward Chanda, has also travelled to Mufulira.
The only source of water the town was now receiving was from the Kafue River, which supplies about 40 per cent of the requirement.
“About 40 per cent of the water is safe and clean.
The clean water from Kafue River is being pumped into three other treatment plants,” he said.
On Wednesday more than 10 people, three of them seriously ill, were admitted to hospital after drinking tap water contaminated with acidic effluents from MCM underground.
Several others were screened at Malcolm Watson Mine and Ronald Rose hospitals after they drunk the acidic water.
Meanwhile, an environmental watchdog has criticised Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company for distributing the contaminated water.
Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE) executive director, Peter Sinkamba, said in an interview in Kitwe yesterday that it was unfortunate that the water firm distributed contaminated water that caused acute illness among several people in the town.
Mr Sinkamba said MCM should not be blamed but the management of the water firm because it was their responsibility to provide clean and safe drinking water to consumers.
“If it is proved that some people have suffered injury because of the commodity they consumed, then management of Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company should be taken to task because it was their responsibility to provide clean,” he said.
He urged residents in the mining town to seek legal redress against the water firm when it is proved that they had suffered injuries as a result of taking the contaminated water.
The environmental group has sent a team to Mufulira to investigate the matter and its impact on communities.
The group will help the residents to put up a legal case to claim compensation.