![Water Supply: Katsina Govt. Set to Construct New Dam, HOTPEN](https://hotpen.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IMG-20231017-WA0010.jpg)
By Aliyu Dangida
The Managing Director, Katsina State Water Board, Engr. Tukur Hassan Tingilin has said government is considering to construct a new dam, aimed to meet the water needs of Katsina metropolis and environs.
Speaking with newsmen in his office, Engr. Tukur Tingilin said the move become necessary as the existing dam is over 40 years old and has been overstretched due to population growth and a lot of irrigation activities going on.
The Managing Director explained that, the board is putting efforts to improve its services to its customers throughout the state. “One of the measures put in place is the provision of prepaid meters for water consumers in private and public places for better billing system”. He noted.
Engr. Tingilin stated further that, the state government has finalized arrangements and signing of an MoU with a Chinese company that will supply the prepaid meters to be installed at both residence and offices.
His words: “With this development, we are projecting a monthly revenue of over N300 million, and with prepaid meters, revenue collection will be more efficient and transparent.
“As for Ajiwa dam, we realized that it is almost silted, and experts consider desilting as a waste, desilting is unsustainable because we have to consider how many trucks of sand will be evacuated from the dam and how much it will cost the government”.
Tingilin stressed that measures were also being taken to cut the running cost across the water supply chain, through the transition to CNG-powered generators, “We will switch to CNG-powered generators which are more fuel-efficient and will therefore reduce the running cost significantly.
“At present we are spending a lot of money on diesel because we buy 134,000 liters every month. CNG generators also make less noise because in some towns security agents request us to switch off our generators at night to have the silence they require to monitor the movement of criminals, with CNG-powered generators we can pump water at night in such places”, he said.
Kunnen Gari