57,000 people deprived of clear water in Syria’s Raqqa

RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Decreasing level of the Euphrates River caused part of al-Karama water pumping station to get out of service depriving about 57,000 people of drinking water, an official of al-Karama water institution of Raqqa Civil Council, north Syria, said on Wednesday.

For a year, Turkey has decreased water flow of the Euphrates River towards Syrian territory raising public resentment and life difficulties in areas that mainly rely on the river for drinking and irrigating lands.

Examining and analyzing revealed that the water is undrinkable, official of the station, Abdulhamid al-Rahil, said.

“Water cannot be purified or sterilized with chlorine because it is located at the mouth of the Balikh River,” al-Rahil added.

Al-Karama water station, which is located on the bank of the Euphrates River after the mouth of the Balikh River, provide the town and six other villages with water.

Water that flows from Turkey in the Balikh River is contaminated by the wastes of factories, and sewage of the city of Raqqa is also poured into the river, the official told North Press.

The decreasing level of the Euphrates River partially put the station out of service and revealed the heavy pollution that flows from the Balikh River before the station, he noted.

The number of residents in the town of al-Karama and the villages affiliated with it is about 57,000 people, according to statistics by al-Karama general council.

Currently, the residents are using the water of the station in housework and watering livestock while they buy drinking water from tankers in the area, according to al-Rahil.

“If the Euphrates water level continues to drop at this rate, it will be completely out of service,” al-Rahil said.

During winter, the water of the station is completely contaminated with mud thus supervisors and workers are forced to abstain from working, he indicated.

Reporting by Ammar Abdullatif