Residents of Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital town, have expressed great concern over the acute water scarcity that recently hit the metropolis.
The most affected areas included Azugwu, Presco, Democracy Estate, and Obiri, among other places.
The people attributed the scarcity to more than one month of power outage and hike in the pump price of petrol.
“When there is power failure, it leads to water scarcity, causing more hardship to households.
A resident, Mr Stanley Shola, said that the scarcity always made him to wake up at odd hours of the night to go in search of water.
Shola described the development as “disruptive”, pointing out that the area had been suffering from black out by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company since February.
He said that a gallon of 30-litre jerrican of water was sold between N150 and N200 as against N50 in his area.
A hair stylist, Mrs Angela Ituma, said that the power outage and water scarcity were stifling her business.
Ituma urged the Federal Government to fix electricity, initiate sustainable water projects and measures to cushion the effects of the fuel price hike on the masses.
She regretted that water vendors were taking advantage of the situation to exploit the residents.
Another resident, Mrs. Chioma Eze, said that the water scarcity and exorbitant price had affected her family’s budget, making it difficult for her to meet her family needs.
“In spite that borehole water in Abakaliki is not fit for drinking, it is scarce and expensive,” Eze said.
She appealed to the government to declare a state of emergency in the power sector to end the socioeconomic difficulty associated with power and water scarcity.
