A severe water shortage is being reported in Burhabaka district in Bay region after water wells and water pans dried up after successive failure of expected rains.
Residents and local administration officials said the water crisis is affecting hundreds of families in the town.
Sokor Hussein, a resident, told Radio Ergo the price of water had skyrocketed over the last month from 20,000 to 50,000 Somali shillings per barrel.
Qamar Ahmed Ali said most locals could not afford to buy water. She said the situation was desperate and she feared people would die.
Ahmed Sheikh Hassan, the district head of social affairs, said rainfall had been poor in recent years. The local administration could not do much to alleviate the problem without help from the central government in Mogadishu and aid agencies.
He warned that water prices would continue to rise in coming days if water trucking did not begin for disadvantaged people in the area.
The nearest town from where water trucking could be conducted is Baidoa, 60 km away.
