New water crisis in Syria's Hasaka

As result of the noticeable rise in temperatures and the advent of summer, the daily suffering of the residents of the city of Hasaka returns, which has turned into a disaster-stricken city over cutting off drinking water from the city by Turkish state since occupation of Sere Kaniye in late 2019.

Despite the efforts of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to meet the people’s need for water through emergency solutions by placing 60 water tanks at the service of the people, and opening the way for citizens to work on filling their tanks, the suffering still continues, due to the city needs more than 130 thousand cubic meters of water daily.

During a tour of ANHA agency within the city , our camera monitored the suffering of the people in the Gweran neighborhood, where citizen Abdullah Jaida said: “The suffering to secure water is indescribably great in Hasaka, and even the tanks that the organizations placed for us in the neighborhoods as a temporary solution are no longer sufficient, due to the population density and the high temperatures.

He added: “On the other hand, we suffer from the high prices of tanker water, and we are not always able to fill it. Today, I live in a rented house, and my financial income is limited, and this is a suffering in itself.”

According to numbers obtained by ANHA correspondent, about 800 mobile tankers supply the city daily, in addition to civil organizations distributing water by filling tanks and placing them in neighborhoods to serve the people.

For her part, citizen Munifa Hamza said: “We have been suffering from a water crisis since 2019 until the present day, and we meet our daily needs from tanks that were placed in the neighborhoods for drinking. As for the water that we use to wash utensils and clothes, it is well water that is not suitable for anything because it is salty and bitter, and this "It causes us great suffering on a daily basis."

Hamza explained: “We suffer for hours to be able to get two gallons of water due to the large crowding of the neighborhood’s residents at the tank,” and she demanded: “The whole world ends this suffering."

In August 2023, the local administration Body in NE Syria launched a new project to draw water from the countryside of the city of Amuda to the city of Hasaka by digging 20 wells, and delivering water to the city through a 62 km long pipeline, at a cost estimated at 18 million dollars.

The Hasaka Water Directorate said in a statement in July 2023 that Turkey had turned Hasaka into a disaster area, and called on the relevant organizations to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe for the fourth year in a row.

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ANHA