Africa-Press – Mauritius. Two days after the passage of the cyclone Belal near the shores of Mauritius, water supply and distribution is under control and is returning to an almost normal situation.
This was the gist of the press conference held, today, by the General Manager of the Central Water Authority (CWA), Mr Ramprakash Maunthrooa, at the seat of the institution in Saint Paul.
Mr Maunthrooa stated that the recent infrastructural development by the CWA such as the replacement of water pipes together with the installation of containerised pressure filters and the addition of new water sources had contributed to the effective restoration of water supply across almost all areas of the country within two days after the disruption brought by cyclone Belal.
According to Mr Maunthrooa, water supply had largely been restored with the exception of the Northern Region where the situation was expected to improve over the week-end.
He apprised that CWA crews had been mobilised as soon as the last cyclone warning was lifted and were working hard to complete the repairs and restore normal supply as quickly as possible.
The General Manager underlined that Belal caused serious flooding problems impacting the water distribution network with water pipes bursting in Bonne Mère, Port Louis and Hermitage.
“The intake of high turbidity water also had either decreased the efficiency of, or damaged the pumping systems,” he stated.
Recalling that electricity was a key component in the water sector for pumping, and treatment of raw water, as well as the distribution of potable water, Mr Maunthrooa stressed that power outages due to the vigorous winds from cyclone Belal had an immediate impact on the water production at treatment plants.
He pointed out that the water distribution would be restored with the electricity supply being restored. The CWA General Manager insisted that there were lessons to be learned from cyclone Belal.
He affirmed that the magnitude and frequency of such adverse weather events would continue to increase and would impact the water supply. Thus, he insisted, on the necessity to continuously improve the water network like the use of underground electricity cables to feed the electrical operations of the CWA.
Moreover, Mr Maunthrooa underscored the hard work of the employees of the CWA after the passage of the cyclone and their efforts to ensure a rapid restoration of water supply across the island.
He thanked as well the Central Electricity Board, the Mauritius Police Force and the Special Mobile Force for their close collaboration. Finally, the General Manager of the CWA appealed to the population to conserve water during such critical moments.
He invited members of the public to avail of the scheme provided by Government to equip their home with water tanks so as to ensure that they had a provision of safe water at all time.
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