A major disaster looms at the Town House amid the revelation that its basement is filled with water fed by the underground river that flows under Julius Nyerere Road.
Historical documents of the city that have been kept for years are in danger of being destroyed because water has filled the entire basement where they are kept.
The situation is so dire that Zisa ordered the local authority to turn off the electricity to avoid a possible fire in the building.
However, the council has reportedly strongly challenged a complete power cut as he is now using a generator.
Two pumps traditionally used to drain water as it seeps through cracks along the foundation are faulty, causing water to flow faster into the building.
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume said yesterday they had contacted the Zimbabwe National Archives and Art Gallery to drain the water without damaging historical documents.
“There was a problem and you must remember that there was heavy rain and there were cracks in the basement where water seeped into the building.
“We were going to pump the water out using our water pumps. We had a meeting with the National Archives and the Art Gallery. There are some documents in that basement, which are historical documents that need a certain kind of drying in order to preserve them,” he declares.
