Mozambique authorities on Wednesday introduced water rationing to more than a million residents in the capital Maputo due to a severe drought.

The city is cutting the water supply to consumers to just 40 percent of normal levels, Casimiro Abreu, deputy director of the National Emergency Centre said in a statement.

About 1.3 million people in Maputo and its surroundings are affected by the restrictions, raising fears of disease outbreaks.

"Diarrhoeal diseases including cholera are likely to occur in some neighbourhoods where populations will resort to unsafe sources; there," said Abreu.

Low rainfall over the past three years has left a dam that supplies the city with most of its water to just 19 percent of capacity.

Meteorologists forecast that the region will receive below-normal rains during the first three months of this year.

Southern Africa has experienced a severe drought in recent years, aggravated by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Cape Town in neighbouring South Africa faces the prospect of having to turn its taps off in early June and now restricts residents to 50 litres (13.2 US gallons) per day.

The water scarcity has forced South Africa to declare the drought a "national disaster".

Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

A lightning-based approach to immediate short-duration rainfall predictions
Beijing, China (SPX) Feb 13, 2018
Previous studies have indicated a worldwide increasing trend of intense precipitation events under the influence of global warming. Heavy precipitation events increase the risk of flooding, exerting devastating effects on human society and the environment, especially for metropolises with dense populations. As one of the largest cities in the world, Beijing is highly vulnerable to increasingly frequent and intense precipitation events, such as the torrential rain event on 21 July 2012, when the ci ... read more