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Running Out of Water in Rising Heat
by Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail
Water supply is drying out in what was once the agriculturally rich Diyala province north of Baghdad. Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, is now running out of water both for drinking and for irrigation.
Water supply has been hit by power failures. The central pumping station has been running short of electricity supply over the last two years.
The pumping station is located between two districts in conflict -- Hwaider, which is predominantly Shia, and Jupenat, mostly Sunni. For two years now, fighting between Sunnis and Shias here has led to reduced water supply.
BAQUBA, May 9 (IPS) - " The Diyala river passes by the two villages before the pumping
station," resident Zuhair Mahmood told IPS. "They try to change its
stream to deprive the other of water for irrigating their farms. The
diversions mean relatively little water can reach the station."
Often,
Mahmood added, "farmers irrigate their farms by setting up pumps on the
banks of the river, which further contributes to reduced supply to the
station."
Some farmers have demanded that the pumping station be supplied directly from the Diyala river upstream of the conflict area.
- "But
this suggestion was rejected because people know that the Diyala river
carries the bodies of those killed in the sectarian fighting," said
Abdul-Qadir Omran, a now unemployed trader. "It is not good for
drinking, and psychologically it is unacceptable."
People of
Baquba are used to seeing bodies floating by in the Diyala river, and
have long since ceased to use water from the river or fish in it.
Rising
summer temperatures have made these problems worse. Many families like
to use air coolers that rely heavily on water. Without some cooling it
is difficult to sleep through the heat.
- "Air coolers can be
operated by simple generators, while air conditioners need high
electricity, and there is a problem with the electricity," Nasir Jacob,
an employee with the Diyala province water authority told IPS. "People
prefer to use all available water for cooling, more than even for a
bath; forget washing cars or watering our gardens."
- "With the
tremendous need for water in summer, pumping may not be sufficient for
all residents," Mohammed Abid, father of a large family, told IPS.
"Many families spend whole nights waiting for piped water in order to
fill their holding tank."
Some have dug their own wells but this
brings its own problems, an engineer at the directorate-general of
water for the city told IPS on condition of anonymity.
- "Water
from these wells may be mixed with sewage water," he said. "Our towns
and villages have no sewage networks, and even if they exist, they are
not systematic." Locally discharged sewage often seeps into the water
reserves below.
In the face of the water shortage, many farms
and orchards are now desolate, and their owners jobless. Iraq now has
to import food and vegetables, adding to the difficulties of local
farmers.
According to an Oxfam report released last July, 70 percent of Iraqis do not have access to safe drinking water.
Inevitably,
people ask why the occupation forces have not cared to ensure water and
electricity supply. Just as inevitably, they get no answers.
Ahmed Ali,
our correspondent in Iraq's Diyala province, works in close
collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on
Iraq who has reported extensively from Iraq and the Middle East.
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