Galmudug state to truck water to drough hit areas

Galmudug administration plans to truck water to several villages in Mudug and Galgaduud regions amid severe drought hit many parts of Somalia.

Deputy President of Galmudug, Mohamed Hashi Abdi said Awil Bulle said the worsening drought conditions across the country have left hundreds of thousands of Somalis facing severe food and water shortages.

Abdi said Galmudug government will deliver ten waterboozers which will be used to deliver water to areas hit by the drought.

“We are going to start trucking water to the areas under Galmudug, this came after we have seen the plight of the people in these areas,” Abdi said. “For now we are addressing the most pressing problem, and that is water.”

Last week, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia warned that five million Somalis, nearly half the population, do not have enough to eat because of poor rains and continued fighting between the African Union-backed government and the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab.

Some of the hardest hit has been the nomadic pastoralists, who depend on their livestock for their livelihood. In the unrelenting drought, hundreds of livestock have starved to death due to lack of pasture and water.

Water shortages are a chronic problem in Somalia, mostly affecting the rural population.

The water shortage has forced many residents to walk for many kiolmetres in search of clean water to drink.

Famine last struck areas in South and Central Somalia in 2011, killing an estimated 260,000 people.