Africa-Press – Tanzania. PANGANI Basin Board Office (PBWO) experts, in collaboration with Kilimanjaro National Park (Kinapa) officials, studying the cause of black colour found in Rau River, have said the river water is safe for human consumption.
The assurance of the river water’s safety was made clear recently in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region, by PBWO Head Segule Segule when speaking to reporters on the steps taken to address the issue raised by residents surrounding Rau River.
Mr Segule assured the residents that Rau River water was neither contaminated nor was it harmful to human beings.
He said experts had taken water samples and sent them to a laboratory for testing and found that the water did not contain any harmful chemicals.
“Expert findings show that black substances seen in Rau River water are not harmful to people’s health,” he said.
He explained that a team of experts visited areas surrounding Rau River to establish whether the river was polluted or not so that action could be taken to address the issue before it was too late to respond to residents’ grievances.
According to Mr Segule, the experts also inspected tributaries of Rau River which he named as Mware River and Mrusunga River and found that their water was not contaminated.
However, Mr Segule clarified that there was a possibility that the blackness found in Rau River water was caused by ashes from the remains of burnt substances up the mountain following fires that raged part of Mount Kilimanjaro recently.
“Since the starting of the rain in these arid areas along Mount Kilimanjaro recently, it is likely that the flowing of rain water will carry the ashes from the remains of the fires which gut Mount Kilimanjaro to Rau River and others around the areas near the mountain,” he noted.
“There are also reports we have received which show that such black substances are seen in the water flowing in Karanga River in Moshi District. Let me assure you, our experts continue studying the situation and a report will be submitted to relevant authorities and members of the public will be told the final findings,” he added.
