Basra's residents yearn for clean water
Basra's residents have long suffered from an insufficient supply of clean water.
At least 118,000 people were hospitalized in 2018 due to consumption of unclean, unsafe water. It was, in part, the cause of protests that swept across Iraq that summer.
"All the sewage of Iraq pours into the Tigris and the Euphrates and it comes down to Basra," says Basra resident Anwar Sabah.
"We are buying water and we have been surviving by buying all these bottles because the salty water is not drinkable."
"Over the years in Basra, we have seen that farmers have lost over 50 percent of the use of their land because they have been irrigating their land with saline and contaminated water," Belkis Wille, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch said.
At least 118,000 people were hospitalized in 2018 due to consumption of unclean, unsafe water. It was, in part, the cause of protests that swept across Iraq that summer.
"All the sewage of Iraq pours into the Tigris and the Euphrates and it comes down to Basra," says Basra resident Anwar Sabah.
"We are buying water and we have been surviving by buying all these bottles because the salty water is not drinkable."
A Human Rights Watch report, published July 22 and entitled "Basra is Thirsty: Iraq's Failure to Manage the Water Crisis," issued condemnation for decades of neglect of Basra's water system by "shortsighted politicians." It warned of continued outbreaks of disease and economic hardship unless profound improvements are made.
With agriculture being a main source of income, rural communities in Basra province are doubly impacted by a lack of clean water.
"Over the years in Basra, we have seen that farmers have lost over 50 percent of the use of their land because they have been irrigating their land with saline and contaminated water," Belkis Wille, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch said.