Agony as Kampala water taps run dry
Residents of Naguru, a Kampala suburb, collect water from a stream off Ntinda-Nakawa road commonly referred to as Stretcher on Wednesday. Water taps in Kampala and the surrounding areas have been dry for the last three days. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OTAGE
Kampala. Dwellers in Kampala and neighbouring districts have spent the better part of today’s morning trekking to fetch water from spring wells after National Water and Sewage Corporation (NWSC) taps ran dry.
The breakdown in water supply that started yesterday has affected parts of Mukono, Wakiso and Kampala.
Officials from NWSC said the water shortage was due to repairs at the main water reservoir at Muyenga in Kampala City.
Several people were seen carrying jerrycans and walking to well springs that the local authorities have for long been considered source of water borne diseases.
A 20-litre jerry can of water now goes for between Shs500 to Shs1000 from the normal Shs150 in the affected areas.
The NWSC officials regretted the shortage of water supply on their social media walls saying: “Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience. All is being done to finalize works and resume pumpage shortly.”
Officials of NWSC said the shortage of water was caused by the reconfiguration works at their main centres at Muyenga and Ggaba.
Most of the city dwellers depend on NWSC supply since most of the spring wells were sealed-off by local authorities after several cases of spread of water borne diseases we reported.
According to Kampala Capital City Authority reports, 80 per cent of the spring wells are contaminated.
However, boda boda riders are meting money from the water shortage by fetching and selling water to residents.
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