Wells are drying up fast, vegetable and plants are dying and water trucks visit the area once a week or in two weeks to distribute water.

This is what the people of Raravatu in Rakiraki have to say when asked what problems they are facing due to the dry weather condition.

A resident Rama Prasad said that around 800 people live in the area and more than 500 do not have access to tap water.

He said these people depend on wells or boreholes and have been facing great difficulty during this dry spell.

He said water level in the wells have reached an extreme low that they have started getting muddy water.

Prasad said since many residents do not have any form of transportation, they have had to resort to carrying buckets of water from families who live a mile away.

He said many families who live on hills used to depend on rainwater however they are facing great difficulty carrying water back home.

Chand said the Water Authority has put a tank in the area last week and people have been urged to take advantage of it.

Meanwhile some villages in Ba are now using river water for their sugarcane and other farms.

66 year old Vikatore Rakata of Votua village said most of their root crops have dried up and he is worried about affairs of his extended family if this dry weather continues.
 
Rakata said they are fortunate to have tap water supply however they need rainfall for their farms.