News of the Drought

Since I've recently sent a note about the umeme (electricity) situation, here are some excerpts from the local papers...

The Mtera hydroelectric power plant could close down any time from this Friday because the water level has dropped further from 698.50 metres to 687.48 metres. The obvious outcome of such an eventuality would be an economic crunch of immense proportions as the country would be left with only the Songas gas-to-electricity power plant, which has also scaled down its output after a transformer broke down two weeks ago. (note: Songas powers only the Dar community)

However, the severe drought the country is experiencing, coupled with intensive human activities in the Great Ruaha catchment area, have resulted in significant shrinkage of the Great Ruaha tributaries’ regimes that feed the dam. Because of this, the country has been forced to reduce consumption through long hours of power rationing and frequent outages that have affected production in all sectors of the economy. With key economic sub-sectors such as tea, cotton, coffee and manufacturing forecasting a drop in their earnings due to power rationing and severe drought, the closure of the Mtera plant and its satellites dams could bring the economy to its knees never seen before in the past 10 years during which the economy recorded a bullish surge.

And from another report...

After a three-year spell of severe drought, water sources in Longido District, Arusha Region, have all dried up, forcing residents to trek long distances in search of water. Most families in the district now have to make do with less than 20 litres of water a day. To make things worse, the safety of the availably water cannot be guaranteed.

’People buy 20 litres of water for between 600/- and 700/-. Not all families can afford this,’ she said, adding that she had never before experienced such a severe drought. Her granddaughter, Anna Laizer, told The Guardian that all the water sources in the area had dried up. ’The rivers and lakes have all dried up. All places where we used to draw water are now bowls of dust,’ she said. ’There is isn’t a single drop of water in this village.’

Women and girls trek long distances in search of water, but they sometimes return home empty-handed or they are forced to spend a night or two from home in search of water. ’They walk for more than 16 kilometres in search of just 20 litres of water. And if they don’t get it, they don’t return home till the following day,’ he said.

When does an adventure stop being an adventure and start being harsh reality?
And what must it be like to have to live in these conditions at this level every day?