Line up for water: Residents of Padang, West Sumatra, line up Saturday for clean water distributed by the city administration. Thousands of people face a water shortage after the 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated the city on Wednesday. (JP/ J. Adiguna)
Thousands of residents of Padang, West Sumatra, now face a water shortage after Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated the city, reports say Saturday.
Risnawati, from Parak Karakah village, said her family had been bathing in the nearby Banda Bakali River for two days.
"We’ve had no water from the PDAM [state-owned drinking water company] since Wednesday,” said the mother of six.
“That day, we collected some rainwater and used it for drinking and bathing. But there’s hasn’t been any rain since [Friday], so we’ve had to use the river."
PDAM Padang spokesman Alfitra said the quake had seriously damaged the water pipe network.
"Most of the pipes have ruptured, so we’ve been forced to temporarily cut off the water to up to 40,000 consumers," he said.
He added the PDAM had begun repairing the pipes.
"Services will be back to normal in a month," he said.
Alfitra added the PDAM had provided 37 tankers to distribute clean water at vital places such as hospitals and evacuation camps.
No comments:
Post a Comment