There is some relief for residents of Yendi municipality in the Northern region who have endured months without having access to clean potable water as the Member of Parliament (MP) has deployed a water tanker to supply them with water.

Habib Tijani who doubles as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs told Joy News he has deployed a water tanker which will be stationed permanently at Yendi to get the residents water as a temporal measure.

The water tanker is expected to provide water to be distributed to the entire municipality which has a population of about 196,000.

Illegal mining activities have caused many river bodies to dry up including in the Brong Ahafo region where such activities have silted the Tano River causing it to dry up for the first time in 40 years.

Despite the long period of drought in the region, the residents believe the increasing activities of galamsey operators significantly contributed to the siltation of the river which is the source of water supply to homes.

The Ghana Water Company (GWC) in the region’s capital Sunyani, has had to shut down its water treatment plant which drew its water mainly the Tano River.

Many communities have resorted to fetching water from dug-outs and wells for domestic use.

A visit to some communities in the area by Adom New's Illiasu Abdul Rauf showed that many residents are struggling to get water.

Students, traders and other businesses, he reports, have had to abandon some of their regular daily activities to join long queues in search for water.

According to them, at first which they encounter such a situation, they have only river Dakaa which they depend on, but this year the river dried up as well so they are appealing to the government to think about the promise that he made concerning their water problem.

In response, the MP said government is expecting a $30 million loan from the Indian government to draw water from the Oti river to end the crisis in the area.

He said the contract would be awarded for the project immediately the loan arrangement which is currently at an advanced stage is finalised.

“We’ve been on this issue for the past two months because we foresaw this was going to the situation we find ourselves.

"At a meeting of the Water Resources Works and Housing committee in Parliament, I raised the issue and the Managing Director ordered the regional manager to ensure that when the situation arises, tankers should be mobilised to get water to the people of Yendi," he said.