Acute water shortage is forcing residents of the Sabongida community in Langtang South Local Government of Plateau into constant battles with animals for drinking water from dirty ponds.

A correspondent who visited the community on Sunday found that there was no source of potable water in the area.

With the scarcity worsening by the day, residents usually travel many kilometres searching ponds where they fight with cows, goats, and dangerous reptiles in water ponds.

“Very often, we have to wait for cows to finish drinking the dirty water before we scoop whatever is available. Unfortunately, that is the only option available to us,” said a resident, Christie Ndam.

She said some journeys take four to five hours before one could sight a stream or pond as the few available ones keep drying up in view of pressure.

Ms Ndam described the situation as “appalling and unfortunate” and expressed regret that the water scarcity issue was worsening.

“We sometimes spend hours around a dry well to get water. Herders struggle with us as they also have to care for their cattle. The competition for every drop is usually stiff.

”Our hospitals, schools, and other public places don’t have water, and this is affecting our personal hygiene and environmental sanitation,” she lamented.

Jennifer Nimfa, a 16-year-old secondary school student, said the situation was affecting the education of children in the community.

”I have been around this well since 4:00 a.m., and it is 10:00 a.m. already, and I haven’t fetched water yet. I am nowhere close. It means I can’t go to school today again because school time has passed,” she said.

Another resident, Fabong Miri, decried the effect of the situation on farming and other agricultural activities.

He said the absence of potable water is a general problem in the locality, adding that all the communities in Langtang South were suffering acute water shortages.

”This dirty water you see people struggling with animals to fetch is here because of the rain that fell a few days ago. Without the rain, all the wells and dams would get dried entirely.

”This is why we are calling on the government to come to our aid by dredging some of the dams here so that they can retain water for a longer period and ameliorate our sufferings,” he said.

Goyil Maikarfi, another resident, decried the alarming water scarcity problem in the entire locality, insisting that the situation calls for a national emergency.

“The situation in Sabongida is scary; people here struggle with animals over the untreated water from the Mabudi and other dams.

”The rural dwellers urgently need intervention to provide good water in the area.”

The community leader of Sabongida, Ponzing Durfa, described Langtang South as the most backward and underdeveloped local government area in the state.

Mt Durfa decried the absence of not just potable water but all critical social amenities, adding that successive administrations had only paid lip service to the amenities.

“Our people are basically farmers. We produce yam, maize, cassava, and groundnuts, among other crops, in commercial quantities.

”Unfortunately, the local government area doesn’t have any source of good water. It lacks other basic amenities like road network, electricity, and healthcare facilities, among others,” he lamented.

Worried by the hardship people are going through, Timkat Peter, the national coordinator, Economic Freedom Fighters-Nigeria, recently petitioned the state and federal government to urgently address the problem.

(NAN)