The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has conducted a survey of how water from Ndaka-ini dam will be distributed to Gatanga residents.
According to area MP Joseph Nduati, the government is also in the process of establishing where the pipes will be laid and storage tanks constructed.
The MP has said this is a victory for the people living near the dam who for decades have been forced to draw water from rivers and boreholes as the dam channeled its water to Nairobi.
Nduati said his constituents are happy that the government has considered them at last and that they will now get a break from the back-breaking work of fetching water.
“Water and Irrigation Cabinet secretary Simon Chelugui has confirmed that he will be coming to Gatanga soon to ensure the process is kick started,” Nduati said.
The MP has relentlessly fought for his people to get a percentage of the dam water saying it is unfair that the government tapped water from the area for use in another county as locals languish over lack of the commodity.
It was even more unfair for the government to construct the Sh. 6.4 billion Northern Collector Tunnel to boost water supply to Nairobi while bypassing locals, he had said.
At some point, the MP said locals will not allow the tunnel to become operational if they do not get at least 10 percent of the water it will draw from local rivers.
The 3 metres wide and 11.8 kilometres long tunnel that is set to be complete next year will channel 142,000 cubic metres of water every-day into Ndaka-ini dam from rivers Gikigie, Maragua and Irati. Locals will be connected to the water after the tunnel is completed.
“It was very wrong for the government not to consider channeling a small percentage of the water to the people surrounding the dam in the first place,” Nduati said.
The MP also noted that the dam that is now at 85 percent may be filled to capacity in the next two weeks.
Murang’a woman representative Sabina Chege on her part said Murang’a county should get a percent of the revenue that Nairobi WaterCompany generates from water drawn from Murang’a.
Chege said even though water is a natural resource, it should be treated the same way oil is being treated in Turkana.
“If Turkana county will get 25 percent of oil revenue, then Murang’a should also get a similar percentage from Nairobi water company,” Chege said.
Chege also challenged Nairobi water company to consider doing corporate social responsibility activities around the dam as its main beneficiary.
“The dam caused the area to be too cold and brought many health issues that were not there before. These people require every help they can get,” she noted.
The two were speaking during a tree planting exercise around the dam.