Inside Karura Forest, contractors under Athi Water Works Development Agency (AWWDA) are busy excavating a section of the route where a new pipeline will follow supplying fresh water to residents in eastern parts of Nairobi City.
With the growing city population, the Ksh 1.46 billion Gigiri–Karura–Outer Ring Road Transmission Pipeline Project is the latest water project being undertaken by the government in efforts to meet the city’s rising water demand of 370 million litres of water per day.
The pipeline which covers 8.4km from Gigiri reservoir has been designed to supply additional 211 million litres of water daily to targeted areas along Outering Road to include whole of Ruaraka Constituency, parts of Mathare Constituency, Embakasi North Constituency and Embakasi West Constituency.
“On completion of this project, the Outer Ring Road corridor residents will be getting adequate water and we hope that will be achieved by mid next year,” said Joseph Kamau, AWWDA Chief Executive Officer. “We expect that once we do this, we should be able to sustainably serve a population of around three million by 2045 and upwards.”
The pipeline consists of 4.4km section from Gigiri Reservoir to Karura Reservoir and another 4km from Karura Reservoirs to Outer Ring Road Road.
According to Kamau, a 3km portion of the Gigiri–Karura section running underground inside the protected forest was chosen due to cost considerations.
“If we were to detour outside, then we would have to do a lot of pumping and also the pipeline length would be extended by about 3km and that would cost a lot of money. Why we are working through Karura Forest is that we do a project that is cost effective and is sustainable to the community and also the environment,” said Kamau.
The agency says it engaged stakeholders of Karura Forest to ensure the project does to affect the protected ecosystem.
The project involves among others steel transmission pipelines measuring 1.4m in diameter, including associated fittings, valves and flow control systems.
“We are being supervised by the Kenya Forest Services. Our pipeline route has to be aligned in a way that it ensures minimal damage to existing trees. We shall be using existing pathways where there are no trees and if we do damage to the nature trails we reinstate them,” added Kamau.
The project is jointly financed by the Government of Kenya and the French Development Agency (AFD) with Zhongmei Engineering Group Limited / Hunan Bestall Water Conservancy Construction Co. Ltd JV being the contractor.
