ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Residents of some neighborhoods in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil are decrying severe water shortages that have lasted for over a month, as the dry summer heat intensifies. Residents of eight neighborhoods – Qatawi, Adala, Roshanbiri, Farmanbaran, Qoritan, Haasarok 5, Zhin, and Berkoti Nwe – have seen their water supply dwindle due to what local officials have blamed on seasonal inadequate electricity supply and dried-up local wells. "We're supposed to receive water every other night...I don't know what to do. Am I supposed to stand guard and wait for the water to come, or go to work early in the morning?" asked Qatawi resident Ziryan Rafaat. In parts of Adala, residents are forced to buy water in tankers costing between $10 and $15, depending on their size. "Yesterday, I filled two tankers for 10,000 dinars," Jalal Ismael said. "I'm a taxi driver making 5,000, 7,000 or 10,000 a day. Out of this money, how much should I pay for petrol and how much should I give to my family?" "I swear, we haven't taken showers in a week. We're dying, I swear. I've piled up a load of equipment to wash and there's no water," resident Amina Hassan said. A resident of Adala neighborhood expressed worry about the cleanliness of the water they are compelled to buy. "We're afraid the water we buy is contaminated. It might be unhealthy," said Bakhtiyar Tahsin, a physician. To resolve the issue, Erbil provincial authorities have decided to allocate 150,000,000 dinars (approximately $126,000) to the drilling of five new wells and the redrilling of 18 more that have dried up, according to Ari Ahmed, head of Erbil's water department. "We're working to redrill dried-up wells, and those that have nearly dried up," Ahmed said. The vast majority of Erbil's wells are dependent on the intermittent supply of public electricity to function. Only 90 of Erbil's 1,160 wells have their own private generator – a number Ahmed's department is looking to increase. "This might help to resolve the issue, providing wells with maximum electricity time," he said. The Kurdistan Region's electricity production decreased from 3,200 megawatts at its peak to 2,500 megawatts in mid-May, "due to the financial crisis, a lack of fuel, reforms in some gas stations in Erbil and Chamchamal, and the closure of Khabat power station due to the return of its company staff to Korea due to [the spread of] coronavirus," according to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) electricity ministry. A proposal by the ministry to privatize the Kurdistan Region's fragile electricity sector was approved in early May. Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have consistently suffered from chronic electricity shortages and dilapidated infrastructure. The failure of successive Iraqi and Kurdish governments to alleviate the shortages since the 2003 war has been a near constant source of public anger. Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali
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