The number of people affected by unsafe drinking water in the city of Basra in Iraq’s south has exceeded 14,000, Basra’s Health Department Director General Riyadh Abdul-Ameer said in a statement on Monday.
BAGHDAD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 27th August, 2018) The number of people affected by unsafe drinking water in the city of Basra in Iraq’s south has exceeded 14,000, Basra’s Health Department Director General Riyadh Abdul-Ameer said in a statement on Monday.
Last week, media reported that 4,000 patients had been hospitalized due to diseases contracted from polluted drinking water.
"The number [of people] affected by [water] pollution in Basra reached over 14,000," the statement said.
For years, Basra residents have been struggling with increasingly salty water in the region, with desalinization facilities failing to provide residents with enough potable water.
The lack of fresh water also impacted the supply of electricity in the region as high salinity levels prevented power plants from operating properly.
Over recent months, the situation with access to drinking water in the country’s southern provinces has been exacerbated due to extremely high temperatures (122 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas).
In July and early August, a series of protests against the disruptions in the operation of Iraqi public utilities took place.
The protesters, in particular, demanded that authorities put an end to the irregularities in the water and electricity systems, as well as address the issue of unemployment.