Water pumped from Syria’s Alouk station too little due to Turkish cut – Hasakah’s Directorate of Water

HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – The co-chair of the Directorate of Drinking Water in the city of Hasakah, northeast Syria, Nidal Mahmoud  said that the Turkish army operated Alouk water station on Friday afternoon and stopped it at midnight, noting that they are working on water imports to complete the pumping in case the station stops operating.    

“The water reaching the reservoirs of Hammeh station northwest of Hasakah is little, and does not meet the needs of the population. Now, we are about to assess the rate of the water imports, so that pumping water and distributing will start in the neighborhoods of the city in case the flow of water continues,” Mahmoud told North Press.

“There are no guarantees regarding the continuation of water pumping from Alouk station, which is under the control of the Turkish army and its Syrian opposition groups, as it continuously cuts it.”          

The Directorate declared a state of emergency on Friday to assist residents in securing drinking water due to Turkish forces’ failure in pumping water from the Alouk station east of the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain).  

“Turkish forces cut off water from the city of Hasakah about a week ago, which led us to declare a state of emergency to face the crisis, and we called on other Autonomous Administration areas to help us if the situation continues in this way,” co-chair of Hasakah’s Water Directorate Sozdar Ahmad told North Press.  

“Turkey stops the work of water station between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on a daily basis, and after that it operates 10% of the total capacity of the station, so the water doesn’t reach the city,” Ahmad added.   

There is an acute drinking water crisis, as the cities of Tel Tamr, Hawl, Shadadi and the IDP camps in addition to the city of Hasakah depend on the water from Alouk water station, and the water cut threatens a humanitarian catastrophe.

Residents of the city of Hasakah have been suffering from a complete cut of water since July 5.

A report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that cutting off the nutritious water for cities in northeastern Syria endangers the lives of about half a million people, especially as the world makes efforts to combat coronavirus.  

Reporting by Jindar Abdelqader, editing by Lucas Chapman