More water projects for Mosul

 

By Mohammed al-Yasseri

 

Azzaman, 2005-04-05

 

The Water Department in the restive city of Mosul implemented 31 projects last year, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Municipality and Public Works.

 

Mohammed Ahmad, the department’s head, said more than 19 kilometers of new pipes were extended in Mosul, the northern city which sees almost daily attacks against U.S. and Iraq forces.

 

Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Province which also includes other sizeable towns and districts.

 

Ahmad said old pipes were replaced in several towns, new water projects executed and numerous buildings constructed to house officials ensuring “an uninterrupted flow of water supplies” to the province’s nearly 3 million people.

 

He said drinking water was available to the whole city and a large portion of villages in the province.

 

Small-scale water purification projects were constructed in several areas inside Mosul and outlying districts, he said.

 

The town of Telaafar, where U.S. troops battle insurgents regularly will soon have a new water project along with Zammar.

 

Ahmad said more than 15,000 kilometers of pipes were extended in provincial towns and villages last year.

 

He did not give an estimate of the cost but said older projects were rehabilitated particularly those serving the string of Christian towns of Bartilla, Karmales and Hamdaniya.

 

The Tigris River bisects the province but Ahmad said many villages and town were too far away to get their water directly from the river.

 

“In these towns we have dug up wells and constructed small water projects,” he said.

 

The digging of wells, he added, was mainly done by “humanitarian organizations.”

 

However, Ahmad said his department was facing ‘extremely difficult problems’ due to lack of spare parts and “irrational use” of water by consumers.

 

“Consumers are refusing to pay their water bills, denying the department of the much-needed cash,” he said.

 

Power outages, according to Ahmad, were also a major problem as most of the water treatment plants and units did not have their own generators.