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About fifty (50) communities in Asunafo South in the Brong-Ahafo region, and Atwima Mponua District in Ashanti Region, have been hit by severe water shortage. This worrying situation, the paper gathered, was due to the activities of illegal miners along the Desre River in the Brong-Ahafo region. Some of the communities in Brong-Ahafo which have been affected by the water shortage include Akomadan, Afrancho, Nkenkensu, Tanoso etc. And in the Ashanti region, the communities are Atwima Nwabiagya, Anwhiaso, Atwima Kwanwoman etc In an interview with Today over the weekend via telephone, residents in the affected communities noted that the water challenge had affected their business operations. �Illegal miners have destroyed our waters. For the past five months, we don�t have water; we don�t even have water to irrigate our cocoa farms. We are pleading with government to come and help us because illegal miners have destroyed our only source of water,� they stated. They said: �for the past year, we have been trying to stop the galamsey operators. Now the river is muddy and we cannot even use it to spray our farms.� �We don�t get any water to drink because of what has happened to Desre. We don�t have other sources of water to drink.� Illegal mining has been a major problem for government in recent times; many of the water bodies in the country have been destroyed by the mining. In many parts of Ghana, including the Northern region, a number of people have either been left injured or dead in clashes between residents and illegal miners. Chiefs in the Upper West region recently raised concerns over the rising interest and the acquisition of mining concessions in the Upper West region. According to the chiefs, most of the concessions were granted without the involvement and consultation of traditional authorities. The Lands Commission in 2014 expressed concerns over the increase in illegal mining operations in Wa, the Upper West regional capital. The Commission said the activities of �galamsey� miners were destroying the vegetation in the region.