The Mulanje drinking water project has finally been completed after several years of work. The operation of the systems was the subject of an inauguration ceremony in Nguludi, near the city of Blantyre.
The government can finally push a “relief egg”! The Mulanje drinking water project has been completed. The facilities were recently commissioned in the village of Nguludi, near Blantyre, in south-eastern Malawi. It was inaugurated by President Peter Mutharika.
The Mulanje drinking water project enters the station after years of work, interrupted by a legal procedure launched by the population in opposition to pumping water from the Likhubula River. The main concern of people living near the river is that this important surface water source will be entirely pumped for drinking water supply in Blantyre, one of Malawi’s most populous cities with more than one million inhabitants.
Water for 300,000 people
Finally, the Government of Malawi reached a compromise with local populations by planting trees to protect the Likhubula River watershed. It has also committed to building a water pipe for the local population. To put some comfort in the hearts of the village’s inhabitants, the government has also provided notebooks and desks to schools in Likhubula.
It was these commitments that enabled the Indian company SMC Infra and its partner Plem Construction to continue the work begun in 2017. These were mainly the construction of a dam in the Likhubula River basin, as well as a water intake connected to a pipe that runs down the Likhubula mountains to a processing plant at the outlet of Nguludi. The plant has a capacity of 20,000 m3 of drinking water per day.
This water is destined for the city of Blantyre. The government estimates that 300,000 people will benefit from the new facilities. The project is also expected to benefit the University of Science and Technology of Malawi located in Thyolo, Bangwe Canton, Mpingwe, part of Chigumula and the historic city of Limbe.
The implementation of the Mulanje drinking water project required an investment of 17 billion kwachas, or $23 million. The project is financed by the Malawian government with a loan from Exim Bank of India.
Jean Marie Takouleu
