Sharazoor health crisis caused by sewage contaminating drinking water

09-11-2024
Rudaw
A+ A-

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Drinking water supplies became contaminated with sewage when pipelines broke after heavy rains earlier this week and this caused an outbreak of gastrointestinal complaints in southern Sulaimani province, a health official said on Saturday.

“As you are aware, over the past few days, heavy rainfall in the district has led to widespread flooding, contaminating the drinking water supply with wastewater. This situation has triggered a surge in diarrhoea cases among residents,” Sabah Hawrami, head of the Sulaimani general health directorate, told journalists in a press conference.

Over 2,500 people sought treatment in Sharazoor district’s Shahid Raouf hospital over the past few days. Residents complained about contaminated municipal water and the lack of access to potable water.

“As we mentioned, the contamination resulted from the mixing of project [treated] water with sewage due to the heavy rains, which broke the sewage pipes,” Harwami said. “This highlights the need for serious attention to Sharazoor's water infrastructure, as the current system is outdated and incapable of handling such volumes.”

Hawarmi said the crisis is under control now and no deaths have been reported.

Earlier on Saturday, Saman Sabir, head of the emergency department of Shahid Raouf hospital, told Rudaw that they are seeing much fewer people seeking out medical care.

“The number of patients in our hospital has reduced. And those affected experience less pain and diarrhoea compared to the previous two days,” Sabir said.

Water pollution remains a persistent issue in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq where municipal and industrial waste is improperly disposed of, often directly into water sources. This pollution poisons the water, causing illness and damaging crops and animals.

 

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required
 

The Latest

PUK leader Bafel Talabani. Photo: Talabani's office

PUK leader Talabani voices ‘unwavering’ commitment to Rojava

The people of northeast Syria (Rojava) deserve to be heard and have their aspirations recognized amid constant threats to their lives, and peace will not prevail in the Middle East without resolving the Kurdish issue, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani said on Tuesday.