Gulu Water supply to be restored on Friday

Current situation at Oyitino dam in Gulu Municipality where NWSC pumps water from to supply Gulu municipality residents. The dam has dried as you can see in the pictures. Dead fish at the banks of the dam have started producing a strong stench. Photo by Julius Ocungi 

By Stephen Otage and Julius Ocungi
Posted 


Wednesday, March 30 

2016 at 

13:05

National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has said a team of senior engineers and managers has been dispatched to Gulu to help curb the water crisis that has hit the area and production will be restored by Friday.

Speaking at the inaugural Youth Leadership public lecture series on Tuesday, Dr. Silver Mugisha the Corporation’s managing director said what has happened in Gulu, is a classic example of how dynamic today’s leaders should be in decision making because for the dam to dry abruptly yet it has never occurred in the last 23 years since they started operations there, is a challenge that they have to adapt to.

He explained that when they realized that the dam had dried up, Ugandan engineers discovered a nearby water source from which they have started pumping water into the dried dam to fix the crisis which will be resolved by Friday and it would not have been the case had they engaged foreign engineers to do fix the problem.
Meanwhile, there is increasing fear among Gulu Municipality residents over the continuous water scarcity caused by water reduction at Oyitino dam. Dead fish could visibly be seen at the bank of the over 800 meters deep, muddy dam.
Officials at NWSC have for the past four days been struggling to remove the dead fish that has created an unbearable stench at the dam.

Mr Charles Ayella, a resident of Bardege Division in Gulu municipality said he is worried the region could face the worst drought, given the prolonged dry spell.
“My wife this morning trekked for almost a kilometer to fetch water for our domestic use and consumption. The children had to go to school late because there was no water to wash them, this is making life uncomfortable for the likes of me who are used to tap water,” Mr Ayella said.
Leader’s take
Gulu District LCV Chairperson who visited Oyitino dam yesterday noted that the water shortage is alarming adding that residents must be prepared to utilize the few available water sources well.

“This is not a simple situation we are in. The dam has dried. We are cautioning the residents to now utilize the water they get properly because there are few water sources for the over growing population in the Municipality,” Mr Mapenduzi said.
Several government institutions including health facilities and schools have been hit hard by the water crisis.
A case in point is Gulu regional Referral Hospital which has 14 units and requires a daily supply of at least 14,000 liters of water. The current situation has forced the hospital management to resort to boreholes water.

sotage@ug.nationmedia.com