Tanzania has begun rationing water in the economic capital Dar-es Salaam after water levels dropped following the drying of its main source, the Ruvu River.
The Indian Ocean city’s 5.5 million residents will be deprived of running water for 24 hours on alternate days. The schedule will be updated weekly depending on how the change in weather will increase or decrease water levels. Tanzania, like its East African neighbours, is experiencing little rainfall, with Meteorologists warning that the prolonged dry spell will continue.
Water officials say supply from the Ruvu River has dropped from 466 million litres a day to about 300 million litres, while the city consumes about 500 million litres a day.
Four failing rainy seasons since late 2020 have caused the worst drought in at least 40 years, killing millions of livestock, destroying crops and plunging parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia – Tanzania’s neighbours – into near-starvation conditions.