Residents spend nights at water wells as taps run dry

A woman walks out of Wang Olanya well in Kasubi Goans Quarter in Bardege division after fetching water as other residents wait in the long queues. Photos by Julius Ocungi 

GULU.
Its 7:30 am Tuesday morning, Ms Scovia Adong, 26, a resident of Kasubi Goans Quarter Parish in Bardege Division seated among other women queuing for water looks exhausted and worried.
Ms Adong has been at the well since 5 am, and from the distance her jerrycans are positioned, she is bound to wait for several hours before she can have water in the two jerrycans she moved with.

For two days now, taps within Gulu Municipality remain dry and abandoned as severe water crisis continues to hit the district and other parts of the country hard as a result of the prolonged dry spell.
Water levels at Oyitino Dam in Patiko Sub-county which National water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC) draws water from to supply water to its clients have significantly reduced affecting the cooperation’s ability to supply water.
Many residents have taken on to source water from wells and boreholes amidst the biting water scarcity. However, the sacrifice they are paying to have even a single jerrycan of water is hefty.

Hundreds of jerrycans can be seen lined up at Wang Olanya well, one of the only two community wells that serves a population of over 2,000 people in Kasubi Goans Quarter Parish.
Some of the women, young Children and men who have crowded the well, look determined and others worried but, they are not about to give up on the long waits to have water.
“I have been here at the well since 5 am this morning; I haven’t slept well because I wanted to wake up early to get some water. But I am surprised that I found very many people already at the well, I will wait at whatever time because I don’t have water at home,” said Ms Adong.
Ms Adong pays Shs 1,000 for a month at the well to be a member eligible to fetch water.

Mr Sayidi Oloya, a resident of Laroo Division who fetches water at the well and later sells to other locals in town said, “I have not slept till now (press time), I have now moved for the second time since 2 am in the night and people have not stopped coming to the well,” Mr Oloya said.

Current situation at Oyitino dam in Gulu Municipality where NWSC pumps water from to supply Gulu municipality residents. The dam has dried as you can see in the pictures. Dead fish at the banks of the dam have started producing a strong stench.

He said he treks for about 1.5 kilometers to fetch the water which he later sells between Shs 500 and Shs 1,000 depending on the demand by his clients.
The NWSC management, in a statement issued on Monday confirmed the water crisis in Gulu Municipality and blamed it on the prolonged dry spell. The water cooperation has since drawn several plans to help save the water situation including plans to construct another water dam and expand the current oyitino dam.

Mr Paul Rackara, the NWSC Gulu Branch Manager told Daily Monitor that the current water crisis was the first of its kind in the district in their 23 years of operation in the district.
He noted that initially they had been rationing water to clients due to reduced production but added that currently, they are cleaning their reservoir tanks meaning supply of water could be cut off for a day or two.
According to Mr Rackara, saving the current situation will heavily rely on rainfall so that the production at the dam resumes normally.

Water fares in the Municipality
Prices for a jerrycan of water at community boreholes and wells have remained the same in most places at Shs 200 or 300 (Boreholes) while at wells Shs 1,000 monthly.
However Business opportunists who have sunk their own underground water have manipulated the situation and hiked water prices between Shs 500 and Shs 1,000.
Last week, the Gulu Resident District Commissioner Capt Santos Okot Lapolo blamed the current water shortages on wetland encroachment.
He asked the encroachers to vacate wetlands before the long arm of government catches the.

Drop in Supply
Water supply has dropped significantly from 2.3 million cubic liters of water to hardly 1.5 cubic liters in just a week by the time water was being rationed last week.
Gulu amongst other two districts of Nebbi and Tororo have for the last 10 days recorded the hottest temperatures ever in the country hitting 38.1°C from the normal 30.2°C according to data from Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA).
Weather experts had predicted that rainfall would be experienced in mid-March, this year however the dry spell has continued.

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