Turkey’s cut of water to Syria’s northeast: new water project by Kurdish-led administration not sufficient.
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – The 50-well project in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah by local authorities will secure only 50 percent of Hasakah’s need of drinking water, Suzdar Ahmed, co-head of General Directorate of Drinking Water at Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES), said on Saturday.
After Turkey stopped the work of the Aluk station in the countryside of Serekaniye for almost three weeks, this is the eighth time they cut off the water to the city of Hasakah and its countryside since they took control of the areas of Serekaniye, also known as Ras al-Ain in Arabic, and the town of Tel Abyad last year.
AANES implemented a new water project of 50 wells in Hamma town, western countryside of Hasakah, as an emergency response solution for Turkey’s cut of water.
The project was going to be ready in March, but it was delayed till August due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the region.
Suzdar Ahmed told North Press that the operation of 25 wells of the Hamma project will provide water every ten days for some neighborhoods, and this will be reduced to a week after completion of 50 wells operation.
Hasakah’s need for water wouldn’t be covered even after completing the remaining wells in Hamma project and there is no alternative to operate Aluk water station in Serekaniye countryside, which Turkey cuts off and prevents workers from entering it, according to Ahmed.
“Hasakah needs about 80 thousand cubic meters of water daily, but mobile tanks currently provide about 10 thousand cubic meters, which means a great shortage of water, especially with the spread of the Coronavirus in the region,” Ahmed said
It is expected that the water from the new project to be pumped on Sunday to some neighborhoods of Hasakah, after 72 hours passage of the implementation of 25 wells out of 50 wells, while work will be completed on preparing the other wells, according to the Water Directorate.