Water rationing in Thika Town will be a thing of the past if a proposal to have the town included in the Karimenu II Dam water supply plan falls through.
Thika MP Patrick Wainaina said talks are at an advanced stage with the Water ministry and Athi Water Services, the dam builders, to consider the town as a beneficiary.
“Some of the dam water will be channelled to a treatment plant that we intend to construct near Mary Hill Girls. From there we shall lay pipes to distribute the water to other parts of Thika town,” he said.
The town requires 15,000 cubic metres to complement the 70,000 cubic metres it has to fully provide all estates with water.
The MP said they had been left out of the initial supply design of the Sh24 billion dam.
“During the dam’s design stage, Thika town was overlooked despite it being an industrial town and the biggest in Kiambu county. Also, its population has increased over the years owing to the Thika Superhighway and the many learning institutions,” Wainaina said.
The town depends on a 50-year-old supply design that only reached Makongeni Estate. It has since extended to Ngoliba, Gatuanyaga and Landless.
“Since 30 years ago, there has never been a major upgrade on the town’s water supply plan. That is why there is water rationing each week,” the legislator said.
Residents supported the move, saying it would ease water shortages and reduce the expenses they incur to source water from vendors.
“We hope the plan goes through to reduce the agony we go through to get water especially residents of Landless, Makongeni and Kiganjo. Sometimes we rely on river water which is polluted,” Makongeni resident Peter Mungai said.
The construction of the dam has already started and will be completed by 2022, Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said.
It is expected to supply water to Gatundu, Ruiru and Juja constituencies and Nairobi town.
Edited by R.Wamochie
