Turkish forces prevent repairing Alouk water station in Syria’s Hasakah
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – The Turkish forces have been preventing for more than a week, the workers of the Electricity Corporation from repairing malfunctions of the Alouk water station in the countryside of Turkish-occupied city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), northeast Syria, which cut off drinking water in the city of Hasakah, northeast Syria.
Khaled Hami, official at the Water Corporation in the town of Tel Tamr, north Hasakah, told North Press that the workers of the Syrian government Water Corporation, accompanied by Russian forces, entered the Alouk station for the sixth day to repair the malfunctions, “but the Turkish forces did not allow them.”
“The Turkish forces threatened the workers to stop the wells of the station permanently, and also demanded the delivery of more than 10 megawatts of electricity to the city of Sere Kaniye and Alouk station,” Hami said.
“Eight megawatts actually reaches the station and the city, and that the electricity consumption of the Alouk station does not exceed 3.5 megawatts,” Hami added.
However, the frequent malfunctions in the power transmission lines between the cities of Derbasiyah and Sere Kaniye are caused by overloads, according to Hami.
He accused the Turkish-backed opposition groups of taking “bribes” from the farmers in return for illegally drawing electricity, which would cause the electrical network to collapse.
For about ten days, the Hasakah area has been witnessing a new water crisis, where the residents are forced to buy water from tanks, or meet their need for water from wells, which are undrinkable because of their salinity.
Early in August, the Turkish forces stopped operating the Alouk station, causing water cuts for about one million residents and IDPs in Hasakah and its countryside, in conjunction with the outbreak of coronavirus.