Drought challenges in Dhi Qar’s Al-Rifa’i district

DHI QAR, October 7 — The villages in the Al-Rifa’i district of Dhi Qar suffer from drought, with families having to travel long distances to secure drinking water. Officials say they are in the process of implementing a project to provide irrigation water that includes all northern areas of the district.

Around 300 families reside in the villages of “Al-Obouda, Al-Maawi, and Shtit,” and they have been lacking a drinking water project since their appearance in the Al-Rifa’i district.

The inhabitants of these villages depend on small subsidiary river waters, which dried up during the past summer season.

Rahim Maturud – a resident of the area speaking to Network 964:

“We are no longer able to carry out our daily activities normally, as the three villages have not been included in any water projects over the past years to provide irrigation water.”

“We rely on small subsidiary river waters, which dry up every summer, and the people are forced to buy water and bear the burden of transporting it over long distances of up to 30 kilometers.”

“We call on the government to allocate financial funds to establish water purification projects and extend irrigation networks to the three villages.”

Ahmed Aziz – Director of Water in Dhi Qar speaking to Network 964:

“The three villages are 13 kilometers away from the center of Al-Rifa’i, and there are water projects near the area that work on subsidiary rivers. However, after the rivers dried up, these projects stopped working.”

“The governor of Dhi Qar has instructed to include the Al-Rifa’i district in a large water complex that includes the northern villages of Al-Rifa’i. We will work on including these villages in the project, which is currently being prepared for inclusion in the future action plan.”