KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – Since early March, Hadla was forced to wash her clothes by hand after electricity was completely out in her village and the city of Kobani. She recalled the old days, 40 years ago, when electricity was available only in cities.
Hadla Muhammad, 60, from the village of Hilinj in the eastern countryside of Kobani, north Syria, said she turns on a kerosene stove using diesel because kerosene is not available in gas stations.
The people of Kobani suffer from an electricity outage after Tishrin Dam stopped working in early March, making matters worse as there are no alternatives, such as big generators.
An administrator at the Tishrin Dam, on the Euphrates River in northern Syria, said on March 1 that the dam was put out of commission after its reservoir hit dead level, which is caused by severe shortage of water flow from Turkey.
The decision came to preserve drinking water, which has the utmost priority, and to preserve irrigation water to have a good harvest season which would secure food for the region’s residents.
Since February 2020, Turkey has withheld water from the Euphrates River, breaching a 1987 treaty which entails each of Syria and Iraq should receive 500 cubic meters per second of water. At this moment, only 200 cubic meters is being let through by Turkey to Syria.
Muhammad adds that the people of Kobani and its countryside who do not have generators resort to kerosene or fuel lanterns.
As there has been no electricity for about a week, she keeps the refrigerator’s door open so that food does not rot.
The power outage has caused several troubles for the people of Kobani and disrupted the business of many.
Suad Bozan, 39, from the village of Minas in the western countryside of Kobani, said she has to heat water on the fire to bathe her children.
She said they used to receive three consecutive hours of electricity, which enabled them to heat water using the electric water heater and operate washing machines.
Some people resorted to candles for lighting while she lights kerosene lamps, noting that kerosene is unavailable in Kobani. So they buy it from the town of Sirrin, south of Kobani, after waiting in queues at the gas station.
With electricity gone, along came a water problem. Most villages depend on electricity to extract water from wells. Since there is a power outage, they need to use diesel-powered electric generators.
Bozan calls for finding a permanent solution. The week-long power outage made them suffer in finding alternative power sources.
She noted that when their ancestors had relied on alternative sources, kerosene and diesel were available. The locals had a reserved stock, but nowadays, it is not easy to come by.
Bozan has a kerosene lantern, but kerosene is not obtainable, so they occasionally light candles. They heat water on firewood since kerosene and gas are not constantly accessible to use stoves.
Nabo Muhammad, 40, from Kobani, said he is forced to use a power generator despite the expensive costs.
He operates the generator for six hours every day. It consumes six liters of diesel, each liter costs 1.200 Syrian pounds (SYP), which means he has to pay 7.000 SYP (equals $ 1) to get electricity for six hour per day, not to mention the costs of the maintenance work, which is paid in USD.
He has to use the generator for lighting at night, occasionally use the washing machine, and help neighbors charge their phones and batteries.