Lengthy dry harming much of Highlands

The prolonged dry season in the Highlands is affecting many institutions, businesses and the general livelihood of the people in the region.

Many streams and creeks have dried up while main rivers have shrunk and become more contaminated as a result of excessive use by many people living along those rivers.

The renowned Waghi River has also shrunk in the last two weeks. People can now wade through to the other side at knee height which is one of the first such experiences for the people who use that river system for generations.

The daily temperatures have risen to above 25 degrees from the normal temperature variation of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius.

Nightly temperatures range from 10 to below 0 degrees Celsius. It is freezing cold in the night with various parts of the region such as the Tambul area in Western Highlands where people are experiencing frost, resulting in food crops and gardens drying up.

Many primary schools in Minj have started sending children home at noon to allow them to go looking for fresh water and food to eat and bring to school.

High and secondary schools are also sending students home a little after 2pm each day. Several health facilities in the region are attending to emergencies only and the rest of the services in those facilities have been suspended.

Mingende Rural Hospital in Chimbu Province is sending its staff home early to look for food and clean water as the rainwater catchment tanks dried up three weeks ago.

It’s understood Kundiawa Provincial Hospital has already slashed its normal operations hours and only a minority of staff are attending to emergencies.

At about this time, people tend to spend more time on domestic needs than any businesses. Mostly women and girls walk long distances to fetch clean water for cooking and drinking but generally all river streams are highly contaminated and there’s a big fear that water borne disease could become a big problem soon.

Several business houses in Banz have cut down their operational hours, and spend the rest of the hours looking for water.

Remandees at Minj Police Station have been sent home to await their court appearances as the main water tank has already dried up and the situation is similar to many other police stations in the region.

Police Station Commander Orim Piamia has confirmed this with Looppng news today that the situation at the cell blocks hasn’t been conducive for humans so they had to be sent home.

To make matters worse, people living near the main streams tend to charge people who go there to fetch water and do their laundry.

With the dry season going into its fourth month now, more related problems are surfacing, mainly water borne diseases such as scabies and typhoid.

Rain started falling about a week ago in certain parts of the Highlands but not enough to water all the gardens and boost the level of rivers and streams.

Author: 
John Kupul