Severe water shortage has struck the pastoralist communities in central Somalia and there have been reported deaths as the expected Gu’ rains have failed to arrive.
At least 10 people have died of dehydration in villages across Mataban district of Hiran region, according to various reports reaching Radio Ergo.
A traditional elder, Abdi Hashi, told Radio Ergo that seven people died in Labi bagase and Adadley villages, while three have died in Yanyo village of Mataban. He attributed the deaths to the water crisis.
“I have witnessed many problems, but I have never seen people dying of thirst like these people,” said Hashi, who lives in Mataban. Radio Ergo’s reporter in Galgadud has gathered reports of several other deaths, mostly of women and children, related to the lack of water in remote villages. All surface water has gone, while water pans, boreholes and other sources of ground water have almost all dried up.
Radio Ergo’s local reporter said the acute water shortage is likely to force many families to migrate from the area in search of water and pasture. Those who lose their livestock will migrate to urban areas, as has been the increasing trend in past years when rains fail.
