More than two million residents of Zimbabwe‘s capital and surrounding towns have been left without water after officials closed the city’s main treatment plant.

The move has raised new fears about water-borne diseases after a recent cholera outbreak.

Authorities in Harare have struggled to raise foreign currency to import water treatment chemicals – about £2.1m is needed per month – and water levels in polluted dams are dropping after several months of drought.

“Everyone living in Harare is affected, they don’t have water,” city council spokesman Michael Chideme said as residents turned to options such as bottled water or wells. “Maybe the situation will be resolved by tomorrow but we are not sure,” he added.

Harare City Council’s deputy mayor Enock Mupamawonde told reporters: “[The shutdown] is due to the non-availability of foreign currency ... it is devastating to say the least.”

In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Show all 22 1 /22 In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Locals and family members gather at Cricket Mine outside Kadoma more than 200 km west of the capital Harare, Zimbabwe, 14 February 2019 where more than 40 artisanal miners died on 12 February 2019. The miners died when the shafts in which they working in were flooded by raining water. Efforts are being made to pump out the water so that the bodies can be retrieved. EPA/AARON UFUMELI In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Relatives of trapped miners look on, near a mineshaft where some tens of artisanal gold miners are feared dead after rains flooded the mines while they were underground on the outskirts of Kadoma town about 200 kilometres west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Thursday, Feb, 14, 2019. Hopes of rescuing the trapped miners are fading due to lack of necessary equipment after they were reported missing Wednesday. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners People gather around one of the shafts at Cricket Mine outside Kadoma more than 200 km west of the capital Harare, Zimbabwe, 14 February 2019 where more than 40 artisanal miners died on 12 February 2019.The miners died when the shafts in which they working in were flooded by raining water.Efforts are being made to pump out the water so that the bodies can be retrieved. EPA/AARON UFUMELI In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Wives of trapped miners gather together near the mine where some tens of artisanal gold miners are feared dead after rains flooded the mines while they were underground on the outskirts of Kadoma town about 200 kilometres west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Thursday, Feb, 14, 2019. Hopes of rescuing the trapped miners are fading due to lack of necessary equipment after they were reported missing Wednesday. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners epa07370031 Locals cross a pond at Cricket Mine, outside Kadoma, more than 200 km west of the capital Harare, Zimbabwe, 14 February 2019, where more than 40 artisanal miners died on 12 February 2019.The miners died when the shafts in which they working in were flooded by raining water.Efforts are being made to pump out the water so that the bodies can be retrieved. EPA/AARON UFUMELI In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Fellow artisinal miners look down a pit during a mine search and rescue operation at Cricket Mine in Kadoma, Mashonaland West Province where more than 23 artisinal miners are trapped underground and feared dead on February 15, 2018. (Jekesai NJIKIZANA / AFP)JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images) In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners A miner gets ready to decend into a mining pit during a mine search and rescue operation at Cricket Mine in Kadoma, Mashonaland West Province where more than 23 artisanal miners are trapped underground and feared dead on February 15, 2018. Jekesai NJIKIZANA / AFP)JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners TOPSHOT - A miner gets ready to decend into a mining pit during a mine search and rescue operation at Cricket Mine in Kadoma, Mashonaland West Province where more than 23 artisinal miners are trapped underground and feared dead on February 15, 2018. Jekesai NJIKIZANA / AFP)JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners An artisanal miner looks on as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Miners work to reach about 40 artisanal gold miners who are feared dead after rains flooded the mines while they were underground on the outskirts of Kadoma town about 200 kilometres west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Friday, Feb, 15, 2019. Artisanal miners continued to lead efforts to rescue their colleagues using heavy duty pumps and machinery to reach where the miners are thought to be. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Established miners arrive with equipment to help rescue about 40 artisanal gold miners who are feared dead after rains flooded the mines while they were underground on the outskirts of Kadoma town about 200 kilometres west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Friday, Feb, 15, 2019. Artisanal miners continued to lead efforts to rescue their colleagues using heavy duty pumps and machinery to reach where the miners are thought to be. AP In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Established miners fix broken equipment used to help rescue dozens of artisanal miners, who are feared dead after rains flooded the mines while they were underground, on the outskirts of Kadoma town about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. AP In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Families react after hearing eight artisanal miners survived after rains flooded mines on the outskirts of Kadoma, west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Feb, 16, 2019. About 40 people were trapped underground, said a police spokesman. AP In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Families react after hearing eight artisanal miners survived after rains flooded mines on the outskirts of Kadoma, west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Feb, 16, 2019. About 40 people were trapped underground, said a police spokesman. AP In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Families react after hearing eight artisanal miners survived after rains flooded mines on the outskirts of Kadoma, west of Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Feb, 16, 2019. About 40 people were trapped underground, said a police spokesman. AP In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners A rescued artisanal miner is carried from a pit as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Artisanal miner Thnkmore Mandimutsa sits in a tent after being rescued as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners Artisanal miners Thnkmore Mandimutsa and Simon Mushonga sit in a tent after being rescued as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners A rescued artisinal miner is carried from a pit as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners A rescued artisanal miner is carried from a pit as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners REFILE - CORRECTING TYPO A rescued artisanal miner is carried from a pit as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo In pictures: Zimbabwean gold miners REFILE - CORRECTING TYPO A rescued artisanal miner is carried from a pit as retrieval efforts proceed for trapped illegal gold miners in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

He urged president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to declare the water crisis a national disaster.

The drought, brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon, has devastated crops and will likely leave up to five million Zimbabweans in need of food aid, the United Nations said in August.

Tanzania announced on Friday it had sent the first shipment of what will constitute 700,000 tonnes of maize in emergency food relief.

The capital frequently records cases of disease such as typhoid due to water shortages and dilapidated sewer infrastructure. Some residents are forced to get water from shallow, unsafe wells and defecate in the open.

The Associated Press earlier this month watched some residents pump water then wait half an hour for enough water to seep into the well to pump again.

Last year 26 people died in a cholera outbreak, leading president Emmerson Mnangagwa to express public dismay that Zimbabweans were suffering from a “medieval” disease.

The country was once a bright spot in southern Africa and a regional breadbasket but the economy has collapsed in recent years, and foreign currency is hard to come by.

Robert Mugabe death: Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader dies, aged 95

Prices for many basic items continue to rise, and the public health care system falters as some doctors and others say they can hardly afford the commute to work.

As services largely collapse, many Harare residents in recent months have found themselves lining up at wells in the middle of the night for water or lighting their homes by candle or mobile phone.

The deepening frustrations have exploded more than once into protests that have swiftly been followed by sometimes violent government crackdowns.