In the other part of northern Syria, specifically the areas of northeastern Syria, which have been administered by the “Syrian Democratic Forces” supported by the International Coalition since 2014, their residents are suffering from a stifling water crisis, especially in the summer, in light of the deterioration of the water networks and the weakness of pumping in the main lines from the water stations due to… For long power outages.

While “Muhammad Khair”, nicknamed Abu Yazan (60 years old), spent long nights at the beginning of this July, waiting for water to be pumped to the main line, weeks after it was cut off, in the heat of the summer heat, which reached its peak with temperatures reaching 45 degrees, hoping The water, which had been cut off for about 15 days, reached the main line tap in his house located in the “Tourist” neighborhood in the center of the city of Qamishli. Abu Yazan was surprised, according to what the investigation’s author reported to the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, that after a long wait he saw gurgling black muddy water with a smell. A foul smell, like that emanating from sewage, and in the morning he and his other neighbor, “Maher Antarat” (42 years old), took a sample of it in a bottle to the water department in Qamishli, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration, so that the laboratory informed them that the water network had leaked into a sewage drain, perhaps Due to a break in one of the water network lines, he said.

“Antrat” ​​said that despite the seriousness of the problem and its recurrence, the committees responsible for maintaining the water networks in Qamishli have not inspected the lines since the summer of last year. Muhammad Khair, who also pointed out that the problem still exists, and considered it negligence and inaction on the part of the Autonomous Administration institutions regarding the health of residents in a neighborhood that lacks life in the summer, as he described it.

It sometimes happens that water is cut off from some neighborhoods in Qamishli for several days, or the pumping period does not coincide with the hours of electricity connection, which prevents the filling of household tanks, which in this case forces some to buy water from tanks whose source is unknown.

The city of Qamishli is fed by three water sources, the most prominent of which are the “Hilaliya” station near the village of “Nafkur” west of Qamishli, the “Awija” station near the city’s industrial zone, and the “Jaqjaq” station on the northern belt of the city, in addition to the “Savan” station in “Al-Malikiyah” ( Dirk), whose water comes to the “Awija” station, from where water is pumped to the neighborhoods.

In the Water Directorate of the Autonomous Administration in the city of Qamishli, while a discussion was taking place between the author of the investigation and a chemist informant, about the problem of sewage sewage leaking into the water networks and its suitability for drinking, Khalil Al-Ali (65 years old), who lives in the water department in Qamishli. In the Tay neighborhood, south of Qamishli, he was holding a bottle of water in his hand with a color similar to the color of tamarind (a mixture of brown and black), and small lumps and pebbles appeared inside the bottle.

“Al-Ali” said that during the process of pumping water from the main water tap, he saw a strange color of water, and he placed an empty container under it that he photographed. It was shown during the clip that the color of the water inside the bucket changed, which raised his fears, that the sewage sewage had leaked into the water network in the neighborhood, after… Two of his neighbors informed him, he said, and we remained in the laboratory waiting for the answer of the laboratory, who measured the conductivity (the percentage of impurities in the water), and the measure indicated 512, which is not a large percentage and within the normal limit, and the conductivity sometimes reaches more than a thousand, he said. While it was not ruled out that there was a break in one of the water pipes and a leak of sewage into the water network, due to wear and tear on the networks, he was told to visit the Water Corporation for the maintenance workshop tomorrow, which Al-Ali considered to be the failure of the responsible authorities in their obligations to maintain the water network. Which constitutes a necessary need without which life is impossible, as he put it.

In addition to the wear and tear of the water network, through the center of the city of Qamishli, the “Jiqjaq” River (known historically as the Hermas River), which originates from two sources in the Tur Abdin Plateau in Turkey, runs within the Syrian Jazira region and empties into the Khabur River in the center of the city of Hasakah, and has a length of… From its source to its mouth in the Khabur River, it is 124 kilometers long, including 100 kilometers in Syrian territory, where its waters irrigated more than fifty thousand dunums.

*From a stream to a garbage dump

Meanwhile, the “Jijaq” River was transformed from a watercourse that fed the lands of the Qamishli region, into a garbage dump, after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, especially in recent years after Turkey withheld its water from its southern neighbor, Syria, which caused skin diseases for residents near it, after the river dried up and pipes shifted. Sewage sewers that emit unpleasant odors along the river that divides Qamishli, starting from the “Zaytouniyah” neighborhood and passing through the neighborhoods of “Qaddour Bey, Al-Assyria, Al-Bashiriyah, Tayy, and Zinda,” until one of its tributaries branches off into the villages of “Al-Awija, Al-Humayra, Khirbet Ammo, Al-Qusayr, and Hamu.”

Farmers in the village of “Al-Awija,” southeast of Qamishli, also installed electric generators to irrigate crops and vegetables and sell them in the markets, according to testimonies from residents of the village.

The investigator arrived in Al-Awaija and saw the riverbed, laden with polluted sewage, being used to grow fields of vegetables and cotton. According to one of the village’s residents, Muhammad Al-Ahmad (42 years old), said that there are about 15 farmers from the village who use the polluted river’s water to irrigate their crops without Concern for people’s health in light of the absence of oversight and the laxity of government authorities and the Autonomous Administration in holding violators accountable.

Video and photos of the river

*High temperature and severe diarrhea

This raises the fears of the residents of the Qamishli neighborhoods and the villages surrounding the river about the danger that threatens their children as they play near the river, from contracting cholera, after the Qamishli region was recently accompanied by a wave of severe diarrhea and high fever similar to the symptoms of the disease, according to what the general physician, “Wahid,” indicated. Muhammad in the ambulance department at Al-Rahma Hospital in the city of Qamishli.

He confirmed that the city has witnessed an unprecedented case of severe diarrhea and high temperature, since the beginning of the spring season and is still continuing, which surprised him, noting that this case is seasonal during the summer, and is unusual during the two years, and accurate statistics are not available on the number of daily cases that occur. It can be confirmed that she was infected with cholera in Qamishli hospitals, of which there are seven, most of which are private, including a general national hospital under the control of the Assad regime and another belonging to the Autonomous Administration.

The doctor, “Muhammad,” stated that no accurate statistics were recorded for cholera cases in Al-Rahma Hospital, while the medical staff deals with cases reported as being infected with cholera without conducting laboratory tests to confirm the condition, justifying this by the fact that private hospitals do not have the required tests and they cannot force patients to undergo The tests, whose costs have become exorbitant, exceed the capabilities of the population amid the deteriorating economic situation and the deterioration of the Syrian pound to about nine thousand against the dollar, as he described it.

While a doctor specializing in oncology in the city of Qamishli, who preferred not to mention her name, said that many cases have appeared recently in the Qamishli region and the Syrian Jazira region, indicating that there are many causes, including the water of the “Jaqjaq” River, which may be loaded with carcinogenic substances resulting from waste. According to an official in the Qamishli Water Department, there are no laboratories and equipment for analyzing the river water for the materials and components leaked into it, according to an official in the Qamishli Water Department.

*A large percentage of drainage in the river

After taking samples from the river, we went to the Water Department in the city of Qamishli to analyze the samples, while a chemical laboratory at the Water Corporation claimed that frequent power outages prevented us from reaching the desired results, pointing out that conducting the test would require continuous days, if the power was cut off during the experiment.

The chemical laboratory “Fahim Hussein”, who has been working for 35 years in the water departments in Hasakah and Qamishli, said that they will not reach results due to the power outage to conduct the analyzes that require five days, noting that they previously conducted an experiment that took three months until they were able to detect the amount of leakage. Sewage to water (BOD), which amounted to more than 800 mg, which is a very large percentage and which should be zero according to the laboratory.

This is what we confirmed in numbers, during her meeting with an official in the Municipal Authority (Local Administrations and Environment) of the Autonomous Administration in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, and she reviewed some documents about measuring the percentage of sewage sewer leakage (BOD) in the “Jaqjaq” River, which amounted to 836. It was identical to what was revealed by a chemical laboratory in the water department in the city of Qamishli.

*A study to revive the “Chekjak River”

On April 17 of this year, the Hermas Foundation for Reconstruction and Sustainable Development published on its official website that, “With the help of a number of academic experts and fellow engineers and after extensive studies lasting about ten months, the Hermas Foundation for Reconstruction and Sustainable Development has completed the executive plans.” The complete technical terms and conditions books for the Jaqjak River Revitalization Project.

This study is “the first of its kind at the local and global levels, as it adopted sustainable environmental solutions,” according to one of the organization’s officials and the project owner, “Azad Ali,” who confirmed their endeavor to revive the river. They submitted an extensive study for more than six months, and the study was submitted to the Municipal Authority. And the environment, whose performance was described by the Hermas official as inaction and delay in responding to the draft project to begin treating the river.

While the institution’s official did not reveal the project’s costs, plan, and implementation period.

For her part, the official in the Environment Authority in the Autonomous Administration stated that the project presented by the “Hermas” Foundation is under review, and there is a three-month delay in implementing the study by the Foundation, according to the contract signed between the two parties to submit the study within six months, and she noted that the project will soon be under trial. For a distance of 150 meters as an initial stage, by stopping the sewage drains and filtering the river water, in addition to a river plantation project to get rid of the unpleasant odors emanating from the river, at a cost that may reach one million dollars, she said.

*High calcification in Qamishli water

The high rate of calcification in the water of Qamishli, which is fed from several sources and stations that is not clear of impurities and sediments, which may increase the rates of kidney and skin diseases, which requires the use of filters before using it for drinking, according to the administrative official in the water department in the city of Qamishli, “ Asaad continued, “The water hardness in the city of Qamishli is as high as 350, and its normal limit is 100, after using filters for purification.”

Asaad added that the high rate of calcification is not new, as the city relies on multiple water sources, which are sterilized with chlorine.

The water official pointed out the necessity of using filters to purify the water from impurities and calcification, while it requires a large budget that exceeds the capabilities of the Autonomous Administration to filter water sources in Qamishli, he said.

For years, residents in Qamishli have been complaining about the problem of the high percentage of lime in the water, which causes the formation of kidney stones in children, if the increase continues for years, according to a pediatrician in Qamishli.

Dr. Musa Daoud, a specialist in pediatric diseases in the city of Qamishli, said that drinking water with a high percentage of calcification leads to an increase in the level of calcium in the blood, which may cause the appearance of kidney stones and skin diseases over time.

Also, the body’s absorption of a high percentage of lime through water leads to a change in taste and is undesirable when drinking.

While some residents of Qamishli are keen on their children’s health by boiling and cooling water before drinking, after pediatricians recommended that they should drink mineral or boiled water.

The city of Al-Hasakah, south of Qamishli, is fed mainly by water from tanks, and it is often not sterilized according to health measures. At the beginning of July 2023, the “Autonomous Administration” declared the Al-Hasakah region and its suburbs “disaster-disaster” following the cut off of water from the main source at the station. “Alouk” has been under the control of Turkey and the Syrian factions loyal to it since late 2019. The station is considered the main drinking water artery for the residents of Hasakah, its countryside, and the displaced camps, while it has been cut off 36 times since it came under Turkey’s control following an attack on the city of “Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniye.”

The water crisis worsens

• On November 7, 2022, Human Rights Watch said that the Turkish authorities are exacerbating the severe water crisis that is believed to have led to the spread of the deadly cholera epidemic throughout Syria and its transmission to neighboring countries.

She pointed out that “the Turkish authorities did not guarantee an adequate flow of water from the source towards the Syrian part of the Euphrates River, nor a continuous supply of water from the Alouk station, which is a vital source of water located in an area in northern Syria, towards the areas controlled by Kurdish-led forces in the northeast.” Syria”.

While the Assad government in Damascus accuses Turkey of “seizing more than half of Syria’s share, which must not be less than 500 cubic meters per second according to the protocol agreed upon with the Turkish side in 1987, while only about 200 cubic meters are currently being pumped.” Ankara responds that “the decline in the water level in the Euphrates River was due to drought and the decline in rainfall in southern Turkey.”

According to Syrian reports, the water deficit this year reached 7 billion cubic meters, and in 2011 it was not more than 3 billion cubic meters, after the increase in groundwater pumping, the decline in levels, and the decrease in the total discharge of springs in the Yarmouk Basin from 3.5 cubic meters per second in 2011 to 3.2 metres, and in the Orontes Basin it decreased from 14.5 meters to 10 metres, and the Muzayrib Spring in Daraa decreased from 900 to 300 liters per second, the Fish Spring in Homs from 470 to 240 liters, and the Ain al-Zarqa Spring in Idlib from 5,500 to 4,000 litres.

A report published by the World Politics Review website, citing United Nations data, says that about 15.5 million Syrians, representing more than 90% of the population, lack safe drinking water sources, which increases the risks of water-borne and infectious diseases.

Khalaf Mao – Bayan Diab