Iraqi city of Basra seethes over water crisis, unemployment

BASRA, IRAQ» The brackish water pouring from the taps of homes in Basra has caused stomach ailments and skin rashes for thousands in the southern Iraqi city once famous for its network of freshwater canals that gave it the nickname the “Venice of the East.”

The contaminated water, along with other failing city services and soaring unemployment in Basra, has fueled violent unrest since July in Iraq’s oilexporting capital.

During a week of demonstrations, protesters set fire to government buildings and offices of Iranianbacked militias that they blame for mismanagement and profiteering while residents struggle with poverty.

“We have a treasure trove of oil beneath our feet, so how is it possible we don’t have drinking water?” asked Zein alAbedein Abdullah, a 19yearold being treated at the overcrowded Sadr Hospital after the simple act of brushing his teeth with tap water at home.

The violence in Basra is threatening to spread to other cities in Iraq’s southern Shiite heartland and the capital of Baghdad, where lawmakers are locked in a political struggle over who should be the next prime minister, with Iran and the United States each supporting rival factions.

There are concerns that sustained violence could also disrupt oil production in Basra, home to 70 percent of Iraq’s petroleum reserves, and at the country’s main seaport of Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. That could lead to renewed chaos just as Iraq is emerging from a long and bloody fight against the Islamic State group.

At least 15 people were killed and 249 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces in Basra so far this week, health officials say.

Embattled Prime Minister Haidar alAbadi, who has ordered an investigation into the violence, visited the city Monday, triggering renewed protests following a onenight hiatus. Hundreds of protesters gathered in a central square, chanting antigovernment slogans, with some calling on him to leave. Their key demands have not been addressed, and it will be an enormous challenge for the government to turn around services that are in a state of disrepair after years of neglect.

At a minimum, it will take five weeks to bring potable water to central Basra, said Gov. Asaad alAidani on Sunday.

A combination of natural and manmade factors has created the crisis, shrinking the network of waterways that made Basra the “Venice of the East,” and also diminishing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which nourished civilizations since antiquity and made Iraq known as the “Land Between the Two Rivers.”

Streams and canals have become clogged with trash from dumping. A drop in seasonal rainfall, the use of upstream dams in Turkey, Syria and Iran, and a general crumbling of the country’s infrastructure all have contributed to the acute lack of fresh water.

A salty tide from the Persian Gulf has advanced into the marshlands north from the Shatt alArab waterway — the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers that Basra depends on — and seeped into oncelush farmland.

“How is it that we have to beg for water, and we have two rivers in the city?” asked Khaldoun. “This is corruption,” he said.

The tap water is now so salty and polluted it cannot be used for cooking or washing, much less drinking, and health officials said around 35,000 people have been hospitalized for stomach illnesses in recent months. The Sadr Hospital said its emergency room was receiving 600 cases of stomach distress each day.

Nearly every household in Basra can point to a relative who has required hospital treatment in recent months.