Drinking water crisis felt across Sudan

Kassala residents complained about an unprecedented drinking water crisis. Hammour Hussein told Radio Dabanga that most of the city’s neighbourhoods are witnessing a complete lack of water supply. The price of a barrel of water now ranges between SDG 1,000 and 1,500.

Hussein attributes the water crisis to the increase in population density, and the government neglecting to remove sand and silt, which hinders groundwater recharge. He referred to the citizens’ repeated demands to link the city’s water supply to the Atbara and Setit dams, and warned said that the large consumption of groundwater as drinking water will affect the horticultural sector. Several orchards have already dried-up.

In the Red Sea State, the drinking water crisis is continuing continued in various neighbourhoods of Port Sudan. Mayor Mohamed Abdelkader told Radio Dabanga that the price of jerrycans of water ranges from SDG 500 in some neighbourhoods to SDG 1,000 in other neighbourhoods. He attributed the crisis to the spread of water basins in and outside neighbourhoods, which impedes the access of water to the various neighbourhoods.

Abdelkader accused the water management in the state of failure and mismanagement, pointing out “illegal approvals of the main water line coming from Arbaat”. He called for the prevention of basins. He said that the solutions proposed by providing a desalination plant at sea will not succeed in the presence of the current administration.

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported that the office of the Chief of Staff of the Sudan Armed Forces sent a support convoy to Red Sea state on Saturday, that comprises a number of drinking water tankers.

In Darfur, Kalma camp for the internally displaced near Nyala in South Darfur is witnessing a severe drinking water crisis. The displaced people indicated a shortage of water sources and the lack of trucks and pumps inside the camp, and they called on the government and organisations to dig new wells and maintain the pumps to end the drinking water crisis in the camp.

The water crisis is also ongoing in Zamzam camp in El Fasher, North Darfur. The coordination for the displaced lament that there have been no effective interventions to address it.