Children on December 16, 2016 collect water at a drinking water point in the village of Nyambadao on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte as eight municipalities of Mayotte are hit by water cuts. AFP
MAMOUTZOU, France 鈥� The聽Indian聽Ocean聽island聽of Mayotte has been forced to impose severe water restrictions on tens of thousands of people due to the late arrival of seasonal rains.
Around a third of the 200,000 residents on the聽island, which is administered by France, have seen their access to piped water at home cut to one day in three.
Hotels, an important part of the local economy, have been told not to fill up their swimming pools and many are having to hand out bottled water to customers.
Local officials met on Wednesday and decided to extend the measures until the end of January when rains are forecast to arrive and replenish the聽island鈥檚 two dwindling reservoirs.
鈥淭his is a聽crisis聽situation,鈥� local official Florence Ghilbert-Bezard told AFP, adding that the restrictions were necessary 鈥渢o maintain our resources at any cost until the start of the rainy season.鈥�
The drought has exacerbated Mayotte鈥檚 water problems. The聽island鈥檚 resources were already under pressure from a rising local population which saw water consumption jump by 9.7 percent in 2016.
Low-lying聽island聽nations have lobbied hard for global efforts to combat climate change, arguing that they are the most vulnerable to extreme weather events such as drought, as well as rising sea levels./rga