GULU: Residents of Gulu City are battling an acute shortage of water following a breakdown at the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC) main supply dam.
The Oitino main water tap intake burst last Sunday night, cutting off supplies to the pumping station and to the city areas.
This has caused water scarcity within the city areas because the reservoir pump has run dry since it is only able to supply 1.5 million litres daily out of the required 7 million liters.
Gulu City dwellers and public offices majorly rely on tap water due to the inadequate boreholes, piped water points, and protected streams.
Currently, residents are being forced to spend days in long queues and pay exorbitantly in order to fetch water from boreholes within their homesteads and from individual reserve tanks, for which the owners also charge at least 3,000 schillings for a 20-liter container.
Sharon Akello, from Kanyagoga in the Bardege-Layibi Division, says that she has been forced to trek over one and a half kilometres to get water from the nearest piped water in the neighbouring area.
Patrick Oola Lumumba, the Bardege-Layibi Division Mayor whose office depends on tap water for sanitation and restrooms, said that they are being forced to fetch water from a well to use.
However, one of the businessmen at the bus terminal said that they are not bothered by the crisis because they pump their water from underground.
Ivan Tekakwo, the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation Spokesperson in Gulu City, said that the challenges are being worked on but said that they cannot establish when the work will be completed and supplies restored.
He disclosed that last night the technical team worked on the problem, but it reoccurred during pump testing, prompting them to start afresh.