Alouk Water shutdown worsens Hasakah water crisis

The water shortage continues across Hasakah, where residents line up daily at water tanks and tanker trucks to secure their basic needs amid high summer temperatures and ongoing water outages in most neighborhoods.

Many families are forced to buy water at prices beyond their financial means or rely on artesian and surface wells despite concerns over contamination and reports of illnesses and cases of poisoning, particularly among children.

Ahmed Alloush, a resident of Hasakah, said people’s suffering continues to grow as the water crisis persists without practical solutions. He added that repeated promises to resolve the issue have not been implemented.

He explained that rising fuel prices have directly increased the cost of water delivered by tanker trucks, with the price of filling one household water tank reaching around 80,000 Syrian pounds, an amount many families cannot afford.

Another resident, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Khashou, said the crisis affects most neighborhoods of the city, noting that water shortages have even caused disputes among residents while collecting water.

He said families that rely on daily wages are forced to spend a large portion of their income on buying water, while others resort to using well water to reduce expenses despite it being unsafe for drinking.

Khashou added that some water tankers sell water unfit for human consumption, leading to cases of poisoning among children, some of whom required hospital treatment. He said residents are still waiting for authorities to fulfill their promises to restore water pumping from Alouk Station.

Residents of Hasakah, Tel Tamr, and surrounding towns have faced a prolonged water crisis since the suspension of water pumping from the Alouk Water Station, the region’s main source of drinking water. The station stopped operating after the Turkish military and its allied factions occupied the city of Serekaniye in October 2019.

Another resident, Fayez Hamad Al-Ma'rouf, said the water crisis has become one of the most serious daily challenges facing Hasakah residents, who are forced to pay large sums to secure drinking water.

He noted that some water delivered by tanker trucks does not meet safety standards and said official promises indicated that pumping from Alouk Station would resume at the beginning of July, but this has not happened.

Officials from the Syrian Interim Government had previously announced that water pumping from Alouk Station would resume at the beginning of July, but this has yet to occur, leaving residents dependent on water tankers and wells for their daily needs.

Al-Ma'rouf called on the responsible authorities to urgently restore water pumping from Alouk Station to ease residents' suffering and reduce the financial burden caused by purchasing water from tanker trucks.

ANHA