NTT Residents Consume River Water as Drought Continues
12 September 2014 15:54 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Hundreds of residents of Oesao in Kupang regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), have been forced to consume water from their local river due to prolonged drought in the region.
“Our communal wells have dried up,” said Mariana Radja of Oesao to journalists on Friday, September 12, 2014.
According to Mariana, nearly all the wells in the region have dried up since the rains ceased a couple of months ago. In order to meet their daily water needs, residents have to place porous containers—a modified plastic bucket—by the river banks, which will filter out the silt from the water. “We would then collect the filtered water in the morning or in the evening,” she explained.
Residents of Oesao has to go through a two-kilometer walk to reach the river banks to get their water, which will be used for cooking and showering. “We usually do our washing at the river,” said Mariana.
According to the report of NTT Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), almost all regencies and major cities in NTT are hit by drought. Out of 22 regencies, only five regencies are experiencing moderate drought. “Seventeen regencies are facing serious and severe drought,” agency chief Tini Thadeus said.
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