ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Officials and engineers at the Mosul Dam northwest of Baghdad denied US media reports about threats to the facility. Speaking to Rudaw Abdullah Taaqi, deputy manager of the Mosul Dam’s electricity station, assured people of the safety of Iraq’s biggest dam, saying he was surprised by the report. “I was only 20 when I first started working here and now my hair is turning all white. But the dam is exactly as it always was,” he said. According to media a US media report, the Mosul dam could collapse under water pressure, inundating the city of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, and parts of the capital, Baghdad. Analysts also said that such disaster could cause up to one million deaths and would displace half a million others. Concerns about the dam’s safety first surfaced after the Islamic State (ISIS) group seized Mosul in June 2014 in a massive blitzkrieg. There has been speculation that the militants would try to bomb the dam in the event of an offensive to liberate Mosul. There are rumors that an offensive for Mosul could be launched this spring or summer. Taaqi explained that worries about the dam have also surfaced because part of the facility is currently not working due to technical issues. “The station is capable of producing 1,100 megawatts of electricity but due to technical issues now it only produces 750 megawatts. The threats they are talking about is due to the fact that water is only falling out only on one side, unlike before, when it poured down two sides,” he explained Taaqi dismissed claims of life-threatening danger at the dam as mere rumor.The Mosul dam is the biggest in Iraq is fourth-largest in the Middle East. Jassm Mohammad, an engineer who has been working in the technical department of the dam for more than 15 years, also sees no reason for panic.“The problem they are talking about existed from day one,” he said, adding that it is simple and easy to resolve. According to another engineer, Karim Amedi who claimed he is monitoring the dam day and night, “there is no threat of collapse.” Iraqi officials in Mosul province share the same view. Naufal Hamoudi, the exiled-governor of Mosul province, told Rudaw that some parts of the dam need simple repairs. “We told Baghdad there is no big threat and we asked for reconstructing some parts,” Hamoudi said.
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