Posts Tagged ‘Water Crisis’
اصوات العراق - أهالي جصان في واسط يتظاهرون احتجاجا على شحة المياه | Demonstration in Jasan Protesting Water Shortage
Written by Hussein Al-Bayati on June 8, 2008 – 9:35 pmخلاصة الاخبار
Summary
أهالي جصان في واسط يتظاهرون احتجاجا على شحة المياه
نظم أهالي ناحية جصان شرقي واسط، الأحد، تظاهرة أمام مجلس المحافظة احتجاجا على شحة مياه الشرب والسقي التي تعانيها منطقتهم.
وقال احد المتظاهرين للوكالة المستقلة للأنباء (أصوات العراق) إن “التظاهرة جاءت نتيجة للأوضاع المأساوية التي تشدها ناحية جصان الحدودية بسبب شحة ماء الشرب والري.”
وأضاف المواطن ستار جبار أن “معظم أهالي الناحية يفكرون حاليا بهجرة المنطقة بعد أن نال منهم العطش وهلاك المواشي والمزروعات بسبب شحة الماء.”
وطالب المجلس البلدي في الناحية والحكومة المحلية بتحقيق مطالبهم بإيجاد حلول لمشكلتهم المتمثلة بالمياه الخاصة بالشرب وسقي المزروعات.
وقال متظاهر آخر، نعيم محمد، وهو مزارع أن “مئات الدونمات من البساتين في ناحية جصان تعاني من شحة المياه ولم يتم سقيها منذ مدة طويلة وهو ما تسبب في هلاك معظم أشجار النخيل وبالتالي توقف إنتاجيتها.”
وسلم المتظاهرون قائمة بمطالبهم إلى مجلس المحافظة تضمنت “تشكيل لجنة تحقيقية لمعرفة أسباب انقطاع الماء عن الناحية وإقالة مدير الموارد المائية في المحافظة ورفع كل التجاوزات الحاصلة على مشروع ماء الناحية وربطه على خط كهرباء الطوارئ”.
يذكر أن ناحية جصان (60كم شرق مدينة الكوت) المحاذية إلى دولة إيران تتغذى بواسطة مجرى اروائي واحد يمتد من أطراف ناحية الدبوني ( 50 كم شمال الكوت) ويمتد عبر الأراضي الزراعية ليغذي مجمع ماء الناحية ويعاني هذا المجرى من تجاوزات من أصحاب الاراضي التي يمر بها المجرى.
كما تشير تقارير صحفية مؤخرا أن لانقطاع مياه نهر الكلال عن الجريان بسبب منع جريان الماء فيه من قبل السلطات الإيرانية التي تقع منابع النهر على مرتفعاتها الجبلية تأثيره أيضا على موضوع شحة مياه الشرب وسقي الأراضي الزراعية في قضاء بدرة الذي تتبع ناحية جصان إداريا له مع ناحية زرباطية.
وتقع مدينة الكوت، مركز محافظة واسط، على مسافة 180 كم جنوب شرق العاصمة بغداد .
اصوات العراق - أهالي جصان في واسط يتظاهرون احتجاجا على شحة المياه
Demonstration in Jasan Protesting Water Shortage
Residents in Jasan an agricultural town in Wasit close to Iran demonstrated to protest the lack of drinking and irrigation water in the district. Most of the residents are considering leaving the district according to one demonstrator. Another demonstrator complained that hundreds of dunums of land were idle and going to waste because they had not been irrigated for a long time.
The demonstrators want the following:
- An investigation to held as to why the water stopped in the district.
- The Governorate’s director of water resources to be dismissed.
- Removing all illegal feeds from the district water project.
- The project to be connected to an emergency power line.
Context:
Jasan is about 60 Km east of Kut. It gets water from al-Diboni (50 Km east of Kut) that passes through the farmland and feeds the district’s water installation.
Local reports say that the al-Galal river which comes from Iran stopped running through the Iraqi territories, because the Iranians have both dammed and diverted it and that this has exacerbated the water crisis in Jasan.
We expect there to be many such reports as the drought in Irak becomes more severe and the resulting humanitarian catasrophe in the south unfolds.
ends
Tags: al-Diboni, drought, Early Warning, Electricity Crisis (Irak), Iran, Jasan, Kut, Wasit (Governorate), Water, Water Crisis, Water Crisis (Iraq)
Posted in Early Warning, Iraq | No Comments »
العراق: وزارة الموارد المائية تحذر من الجفاف
Written by Editors on May 26, 2008 – 5:11 am“نحن نتوقع أن نفقد حوالي نصف مواردنا المائية أو ربما أكثر من ذلك إذا ما استمرت الدول المجاورة في بناء السدود على نهري دجلة والفرات”
“تركيا وسوريا تساهمان أيضاً في تخفيض مستويات المياه في نهري دجلة والفرات عن طريق قيامهما بنفس ما تقوم به إيران. وذلك من شأنه أن يحرم حوالي مليون هكتار على الأقل من الأراضي الزراعية العراقية من مياه الري وأن يهدد سبل عيش الناس هناك”.
أفاد بيان صادر عن وزارة الموارد المائيةً أن العراق يعاني من نقص كبير في المياه قد يؤدي إلى الجفاف.
وقالت الوزارة أن السبب في ذلك يعود للسياسات المائية التي تنتهجها الدول المجاورة والجفاف غير المعتاد الذي شهده فصل الشتاء هذا العام.
وجاء في البيان أن “نقص مياه الأمطار التي لم تصل خلال فصل الشتاء المنصرم إلا لحوالي 30 بالمائة مما كانت عليه في الأعوام الماضية، قد أثر بوضوح على مستويات المياه في نهري دجلة والفرات وروافدهما”.
كما أفاد البيان أن إجمالي مخزون المياه في الخزانات والبحيرات العراقية حالياً انخفض بواقع 9.19 مليار متر مكعب عما كان عليه في السنة الماضية ليصل إلى 22.07 مليار متر مكعب.
Tags: drought, Early Warning, Food Shortages, Water, Water Borne Disease, Water Contamination, Water Crisis, Water Crisis (Iraq), Water Poisoning, Water Treaty
Posted in Early Warning, Features, Iraq | No Comments »
IRAQ: Ministry issues drought warning
Written by Editors on May 22, 2008 – 4:48 pmBAGHDAD, 22 May 2008 (IRIN) - Iraq is suffering from water shortages that could lead to widespread drought as a result of the water policies of neighbouring countries and an unusually dry winter, the Iraqi Water Resources Ministry has said in a statement.
For related postings follow any of these links Gorilla’s Guides articles tagged:
Drought, Water, Water Borne Disease, Water Contamination, Water Crisis, Water Crisis (Iraq), Water Poisoning, Water Treaty.
Some of the postings are in Arabic, some in English, some in both languages. There is considerable overlap between the topics.
The Early Warning topic also has relevant material. The IRIN tag also has a lot of older material.
“The shortage of rain, which last winter was 30 percent of what it was in previous years, has led to an obvious impact on water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries,” the Ministry said.
Iraq’s total water store in reservoirs and lakes is currently 22.07 billion cu. m. - down from the pervious year by 9.19 billion cu. m., it said.
Iraqi officials have accused Syria, Turkey and Iran of either building dams on the Tigris and Euphrates or changing the course of tributaries leading to Iraq, and the government is dispatching official delegations to these countries next week to discuss the problem.
“Iran is holding up the water from two rivers - al-Wan and Serwan - which flow through Iran to Iraq’s southeastern province of Diyala by building dams on them,” said Peshtiwan Ahmed, a member of the parliamentary committee on water resources.
Hassan Ni’ma Alwan, an expert at the Water Resources Ministry, said Iraq stood to lose nearly half of its water resources if the policies being pursued in neighbouring countries continued, especially in conjunction with another dry winter.
“We are expecting to lose nearly half of our water resources - or maybe more than 50 percent - if neighbouring countries continue building dams on the rivers [Tigris and Euphrates],” Alwan told IRIN.
Acute drought
This would lead not only to “acute drought” but to difficulties in other areas such as hydropower, he said.
“Turkey and Syria for their part are reducing water levels in both the Tigris and the Euphrates by doing the same [as Iran]. That could deprive at least one million hectares of Iraqi agricultural land of water, and threaten livelihoods in the marshlands,” Ahmed said.
Turkey is currently building Ilisu dam on the Tigris. One of the largest dams in Turkey, it will produce hydroelectric power, provide improved irrigation, and is scheduled for completion by 2013.
The Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture have decided only to allow the planting of strategic crops this summer, like rice, corn, sunflowers, cotton, and vegetables, the Ministry statement said. The government has also ordered irrigation rationing for different crops in different areas.
The 1,800km-long Tigris flows from eastern Turkey to southern Iraq, where it joins the Euphrates and eventually empties into the Gulf.
sm/at/cb
Tags: Diyala, drought, Early Warning, Iran, IRIN, Poverty, Syria, Turkey, Water Borne Disease, Water Contamination, Water Crisis, Water Crisis (Iraq), Water Poisoning, Water Treaty
Posted in Early Warning, Features, Health, Iraq, Society And Economy | No Comments »
IRAQ: Nature Adds to Occupation Blows
Written by Editors on May 16, 2008 – 7:12 pmIraq has started to import vegetables for the first time in its modern history despite a rich agricultural heritage that reaches back 6,000 years. Aside from the direct consequences of a failed military occupation, such as lack of security, fuel and electricity, U.S. occupation authorities have installed a neo-liberal free market system that has pushed Iraqi farmers out of competition as foreign goods flood the markets. That in turn is hitting the local economy and increasing unemployment.
IRAQ: Nature Adds to Occupation Blows by Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail. Ahmed Ali, is IPS‘ correspondent in Iraq’s Diyala province, he works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, their U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who travels extensively in the region.
Two recently posted related articles are:
- Gorilla’s Guides » Blog Archive » IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat:
- Gorilla’s Guides » Blog Archive » IRAQ: Food Crisis Hits Fallujah:
For further related coverage in Arabic and English see Gorilla’s Guides articles tagged: Drought, Water, Water Borne Disease, Water Contamination, Water Crisis, Water Crisis (Iraq), Water Poisoning, Water Treaty.
For a short introduction (with links to sources) to the centrality of water to the Iraki and Middle Eastern situation see: Gorilla’s Guides » Blog Archive » 31st August 2006, 06:02 pm » Planting The Seeds Of The Big One.
BAQUBA, May 15 (IPS) - Farmers in the Diyala province in Iraq have been hit by just about every crisis possible. First the security disaster dried up supplies and markets, then lack of electricity cut irrigation, and now comes a drying up of water resources.
Nothing now seems more difficult in Iraq than the business of farming.
“The shortage of water is the biggest threat that Iraqi agriculture has ever faced,” an employee in the directorate-general of irrigation for Diyala province, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. “It threatens not only food but also employment in this city (Baquba, capital of the province).
“The shortage of water can be ascribed to the shortage of rain and snow at the main sources,” the employee at the irrigation centre said.
Many farmers say that they fear that the northern Kurdish-controlled region of Iraq is facing a dry 2008. The mountains there, besides the mountains of southwest Iran and southern Turkey, form a large source of water for Iraq.
The government is doing little to help people over this crisis. “The directorate is impotent and can give nothing to the farmers,” the irrigation centre employee said. “Hundreds of thousands of acres are now desolate, and thousands of people jobless.”
Most villagers work in farming, and now that farming no more sustains people as it did, life there is badly hit. Agriculture in this area kept Iraq supplied, and also produced enough for exports. But now farmers sometimes have a hard time feeding themselves.
“The majority of our village farmers have quit and the rest will follow,” farmer Nasir Ibrahim told IPS. “This is because of obstacles like security, displacement, water shortage, lack of seeds, and lack of backing on the part of the ministry.
“Farming is our source of our living; it’s our job. We used to live in the village; we cannot live in the city to work in offices, even though so many farmers have become policemen.”
The degraded security situation in the province has left farmers with the option only of selling their fruit and vegetables in smaller markets, because accessing the central market has become too dangerous.
Tags: Baquba, Diyala, drought, Economic disruption, Turkey, Water, Water Contamination, Water Crisis, Water Crisis (Iraq), Water Poisoning, Water Treaty, WHO
Posted in Features, Iraq | No Comments »
مسؤولون يرجعون إنقطاع الماء عن أحياء بالموصل لانخفاض منسوب - دجلة
Written by Editors on May 8, 2008 – 9:35 pmيرجع مسؤولون في مديرية ماء محافظة نينوى سبب إنقطاع المياه عن أحياء الجانب الأيمن من مدينة الموصل إلى توقف محطات تنقية الماء بسبب عدم قدرة المضخات على سحبه من (نهر دجلة) لانخفاض منسوبه. فيما وصف سكان محليون مستوى النهر حاليا بـ “المخيف”.
ويقول خالد العبار مدير إعلام ماء نينوى، في تصريح للوكالة المستقلة للأنباء ( أصوات العراق)، اليوم الأربعاء، إن “إنقطاع ماء الإسالة عن أحياء الجانب الأيمن من الموصل، منذ عدة أيام، يعود إلى توقف مضخات محطات تصفية الماء عن العمل، نظرا لإنخفاض منسوب مياه نهر دجلة.”
وأوضح أن مستوى ماء النهر ” إنخفض إلى دون مستوى أنابيب السحب، ما أدي إلى عدم استطاعة المضخات سحب الماء”، مشيرا إلى أن الإنقطاع قد يستمر “لعدة أيام، وهو مرتبط بارتفاع منسوب النهر.”
وينبع (نهر دجلة) من مرتفعات جنوب شرق هضبة الأناضول في تركيا، ويبلغ طول مجراه (1718 كلم). ويعبر النهر مناطق تركية وعرة حتى يدخل أراضي العراق عند بلدة (فيش خابور) في قضاء (زاخو) التابع لمحافظة دهوك على الحدود مع تركيا.
Tags: drought, Tigris River, Water Crisis, Water Crisis (Iraq)
Posted in Features, Iraq | No Comments »