Three children have died of hunger and thirst related complications in a rural village in Hiran region.
The children from pastoralist families died in Buq-kosar village which is 55 km west of Beledweyne district, the provincial capital of Hiran region.
Buq-kosar village chief Maalim Adan Mohamed said a breakdown of a pumping machine at a borehole in the village had caused critical water shortage in the area.
Mohamed said that many people and livestock in the area and its surroundings were on the verge of dying from the water scarcity.
He said the only available water in the village was water for sale brought in by tankers from El-Der village, 15 km from Buq-kosar.
“The price of water has skyrocketed to a level most of the villagers cannot afford. A barrel of water is now costing about 350,000 Somali shillings,” said Mohamed.
He said the acute water problem had compounded the drought situation and the situation was getting worse by the day. “Already 35 pastoralist families from this village have abandoned their livestock and fled to Beledweyne to join an IDP centre there.”
Mohamed called on the Somali government and the international aid agencies to support them and start water trucking to alleviate the catastrophic water situation.
Erratic rainfall and dysfunctional pumping machines resulting in serious water shortages have compromised the lives of many pastoralists in the country.
