Water crisis in El Malha, North Darfur

El Malha in the northern part of North Darfur is suffering from thirst after water pumps stopped working in the locality. Many places in the state are experiencing severe water shortages because of the shortage of fuel.

“The pumps in the wells stopped working because of the fuel crisis in the state,” an angry resident told Radio Dabanga.

“The Water Department of El Malha has doubled the price for a barrel of water at a water well. Instead of SDG 2.50 we now pay SDG 5 – while often there is no water pumped at all,” the source said.

“The commercial prices of water are soaring. They ask SDG 50 ($ 2.80*) for a barrel of water here in Kenana.”

He attributed the crisis to the skyrocketing prices of fuel and spare parts for the pumps. “A barrel of petrol currently costs SDG 1,700 ($ 94) at the black market.

“We don’t know what to do if the crisis continues into the hot summer months,” he said.

El Fasher

The capital of North Darfur is suffering from a shortage of drinking water as well. Local MPs urged the state authorities a week ago “to urgently develop plans” to solve the acute water crisis, “especially that the summer is approaching”.

The head of the North Darfur Drinking Water Department attributed the water shortage to fluctuations in the power supply “that negatively affects the flow of water to the city”.

* Based on the official US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS)