After water supplies from the Euphrates River were cut by the invading Turkish state, the people of the region faced a heavy shortage of drinking water and water pollution. The interruption of water has affected agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as an increase in the hours of power cuts.

Since the beginning of this year, the invading Turkish state has reduced supplies from the Euphrates River, violating the agreement it signed with Syria in 1987. According to this agreement, 500 cubic meters of water per second must flow into Syria. Citizens who have difficulty accessing drinking water are affected the most by the water cuts.

Sirîn Water Union started to supply water with pumps from the Euphrates River with the support of the Drinking Water General Administration in order to meet the drinking water needs of Sirîn district and its villages.

Sirîn Water Union Board member, Mihemed Xêr Dirxam, told ANHA: “We provide the water needs of our people through pumps. We use 4 pumps with the support of the General Administration of Drinking Water. There has been an increase in the number of people coming to the region, especially as a result of the attacks of the invading Turkish state. We needed more water.”

‘We managed to increase the supply of drinking water’

Dirxam said: “Previously, the pumps were delivering 150 cubic meters of water, but now they are supplying 300 cubic meters of water per second, while the horizontal ones are supplying 350 cubic meters.”

Dirxam said that the lives of civilians are targeted and many diseases are caused by water pollution and thirst. “People are very affected by the water pollution caused by the closure of the water pumps. People were getting water without any filtering.” Thousands of poisoning incidents have occurred in the Northern and Eastern Syria region since the beginning of this year due to the pollution of the Euphrates River.