TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – The crisis of water cut off from the town of Tel Tamr, north of Hasakah, has deteriorated further due to the cutoff of water from the Alouk station in near Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), which is under the control of the Turkish troops and its affiliated armed opposition groups.
Turkey and its armed opposition groups have stopped water flow from Alouk station, which provides the city of Hasakah and its countryside with water, since November 22.
People of Tel Tamr secure their needs for water through the travelling tankers that fill water from a stream in the village of Ain Abed, east of Tal Tamr, which is the only well that has drinkable water. Since trucks can secure only about half of people’s needs, some people are forced to drink undrinkable well water.
Halima Khalaf, an IDP from Sere Kaniye living in Tel Tamr, said that she was forced to boil and then cool the well water to be able to drink it.
“We drink bitter and muddy water,” she added.
The municipality trucks fill the each five barrel reservoir at 1,000 Syrian pounds (SYP), while the private trucks fill it at 3,500 SYP.
The Drinking Water Directorate of Hasakah criticized the silence of the United Nations and humanitarian organizations on Monday regarding the Turkish army and Turkish-backed armed opposition groups continuing to cut off water to about one million people in Hasakah city and its countryside.
The Autonomous Administration Drinking Water Directorate announced a state of emergency last week due to the water cutoff from Alouk station.
Dehaimer Suleiman, a resident from Tel Tamr who is facing difficulties in securing water from trucks, said, “this is the first time we have gotten water since the water cut off from Alouk station.”
“We are forced to use the well water, but the water we got tastes bitter,” he added.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates had said in a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council that the Turkish government was carrying out “illegal and inhuman practices to achieve political and military gains.”
Khalid Hami, the Tel Tamr Water Directorate administrator, said that the continuing exacerbation of the water crisis in Hasakah is related to the use of the amount of electricity supply to Alouk water Station by the Turkish opposition groups.
“We raised requests to the general administration demanding alternative projects for Alouk to dig wells in other areas, such as the Salhia and Gulbistan villages east of Tel Tamr,” he mentioned.