BY SYLVIA MWEETWA –

A  CRITICAL water  shortage  has  hit  Serenje District in Central Province forcing  the residents to dig shallow  wells, District Commissioner  Charles  Mwelwa  has disclosed .
Mr  Mwelwa said since Sunday this week,  the district  had no running  water  and  accused the  water  utility Lukanga Water and Sewerage  Company (LWSC) of failing to  provide  a solution  to  the water  situation.
In an interview yesterday,  Mr Mwelwa explained that as  a result of the critical water shortage, most  households  had  resorted to  digging  shallow wells and feared  that  the district may be  hit  with  water-borne  diseases if a solution was not found.
But LWSC managing director  Wencyslouv Makondo, when contacted for a comment, said the water challenge which had hit  the district was as  a result  of a broken down water system.
Mr Makondo said officers were working on the facility and was hopeful that water supply would normalise by today.
Mr Mwelwa said there was need  to  urgently  address the water  problem to avoid  outbreak of water  borne diseases and that most  residents were  using  the bush to answer the call of nature.
“I want to state that we are worried about the water shortage which has hit our district and if water is not restored, we will see a situation where lives would be  lost, ” he said.
He said the water  utility should  have  announced and provided an alternative for water supply.
Mr Makondo apologised for the water interruption and further attributed low water levels to the depleted water source, which had resulted in its failure to pump sufficient water.