Acute water shortage hits Tamale Metropolis

An acute water shortage has hit the Tamale metropolis and its environs for the past two weeks, forcing residents to rely on unsafe sources of water for their consumption and household activities.

The situation is worrying, especially in the Holy Month of Ramadan in which water is needed for religious purification and household activities at dawn.

The situation has put an extra financial burden on residents who cannot rely on unhygienic sources of water for consumption and the preparation of meals, and they have resorted to buying sachet water for those purposes.

Some residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic about the situation said they had to share water from nearby dams and streams with animals, a situation which posed some health risk.

Taps remain closed

As of the time of filing this report yesterday, the situation had not improved and the taps remained closed.

A visit by the Daily Graphic to some communities, especially Zogbeli, Jisonaayili, Katariga and parts of the central business district of the metropolis, revealed scores of women with containers searching for water.

Some of them narrated the difficulties they had gone through in their effort to get water.

According to them, they had trekked about 10 kilometres to fetch water from an old dam.

Those who said they could not walk had to hire tricycles, popularly known as “Motor King”, to fetch water.

Water tanker operators in the metropolis have taken advantage of the situation and are charging exorbitant fees ranging between GH¢120 and GH¢200, depending on the distance.

The Northern Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Nii Abbey, said in a text message that water production had to be interrupted because of maintenance works that needed to be done at Gbelo Kpalsi.

He said the work had been completed and was hopeful that water supply would resume  today.