More than 2,000 homes in Gatanga constituency will benefit from an irrigation project worth Sh53 million.
The Wanduhi, Ndaka-ini, Kimandi project will draw its water from the Kiama River in Ngerechi area before it is channelled to homes.
Area MP Nduati Ngugi said the project, which is being undertaken by the National Irrigation Authority (NIA), will involve laying of 30-kilometre pipeline from the source in the Aberdare Forest to the villages.
Nduati said the project is in line with the Jubilee administration’s Big Four pillar on food security and will help residents engage in agribusiness and boost their earnings.
The MP spoke during a ground-breaking ceremony at Ngerechi. He said the project will be completed in six months.
Residents have for a long time lobbied for more water connections, saying the area hosts Ndaka-ini dam, which supplies 82 per cent of the water consumed in Nairobi, yet they continue to suffer as they fetch water from rivers.
Project chairperson Elias Mwaniki said after many years of suffering, they formed a group with the resolve to get a solution.
“For a long time, we have been knocking on many offices seeking help and now we thank God that our plight has been addressed,” Mwaniki said.
The project is one of the many that the government is implementing in the constituency. Residents will now be able to engage in commercial farming and improve their living standards.
In Kiarutara, the government has laid pipes worth Sh10 million for another water project. Similar projects are underway in Mbugiti and Rakemo. In semi-arid Ithanga, a Sh2.4 billion dual-purpose water project is nearing completion.
Nduati said the Gatura Njabi-ini road being constructed under the 540km-long Mau Mau road project will make it easy for farmers to market their produce in the neighbouring Nyandarua county.
The area is agriculturally rich and does well in horticulture farming, yet many locals have been relying on relief food over the years because of lack of water for irrigation.
The CDF office has further dug more than 500 water pans that have reduced beneficiaries’ dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
The government has also announced that it will connect residents with water from Ndaka-ini dam through Kigoro treatment.
Kariara MCA Joel Murigi said residents are happy that they will now have access to water after helping Nairobi for decades.
“Kariara ward provides water to the entire constituency and Nairobi county but had been left behind in connections,” he said, urging farmers to use the project to financially transform their lives.
In March this year, Water Principal Secretary Joseph Wairagu said the national government had increased water connectivity in Murang’a county from 36 per cent in 2018 to 60 per cent.
Wairagu said they were in the process of implementing water projects worth Sh6.2 billion in the county to ensure Murang’a catches up with the national water coverage that stands at 72 per cent.