BACOLOD: A total of 33,966 households experiencing water shortage in this city due to the drought caused by El Niño availed of water rationing for the month of April. A summary report released by the city government on Saturday showed water supply was distributed to households in 18 of 61 villages here. 'An average of 1,550 households were served daily with up to 36,642 liters of water,' read the report submitted by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. A total of 663,500 liters were distributed to Barangays 27, 29, 30, 31, 40, Alijis, Bata, Cabug, Estefania, Felisa, Handumanan, Mandalagan, Mansilingan Singcang-Airport, Sum-ag, Tangub, Taculing and Villamonte. The highest volume of water was delivered to Barangay Handumanan, equivalent to 27.7 percent of the total water distributed last month, followed by Mansilingan, 14.3 percent; and Villamonte, 12.9 percent. Meanwhile, private water distributor PrimeWater and its joint venture partner, Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa), released a copy of the water availability map of the city on Friday. The map showed that the 12 areas with zero to four hours of water available in a day are Barangays 40, Handumanan, Tangub, Mandalagan, Felisa, Vista Alegre, Villamonte, Taculing, Alijis, Sum-ag, Mansilingan and Banago. 'Water supply in these areas is greatly affected by the effects of El Niño since there have been a decrease in the supply from the bulk water supplier,' the report said. PrimeWater and Baciwa have deployed 24 water tanks each with 2,000-liter capacity to augment water supply in the 12 villages. On the part of the city government, it has received support for the water distribution program from private groups, including the Amado B. Parreño Agricultural Corp., which allowed it access to water supply at Bocal-Bocal Springs in Barangay Alangilan for free, as well as the Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Red Cross Bacolod-Negros Occidental Chapter and Manila Water. Source: Philippines News Agency
