Dhi Qar residents protest power outages, water shortages, and failing infrastructure

DHI QAR — Residents in southern Iraq staged peaceful demonstrations Sunday in multiple areas of Dhi Qar governorate, demanding improved access to electricity, safe drinking water, and basic public services amid ongoing infrastructure failures and rising summer temperatures.

Two separate protests took place in Suq al-Shuyukh district — one involving residents from the right bank of the Euphrates River, and another from the Akeeka subdistrict. Demonstrators said their areas are routinely shortchanged on power despite being part of the scheduled electricity distribution plan, and blamed the crisis on aging infrastructure and a lack of maintenance crews.

“We, the people of Hajjam and nearby areas on the right bank of the Euphrates, suffer from a severe shortage of electricity due to worn-out network wires,” protester Ali Mohammed told 964media. “We have no political affiliations or agendas. We only represent ourselves, and our only demand is electricity for our areas.”

Like much of Iraq’s south, Dhi Qar faces chronic electricity shortages compounded by deteriorating transmission lines, insufficient repair capacity, and the strain of intense summer heat.

“We agree to the official supply schedule, but we don’t receive our full share,” Mohammed said. “We’re exhausted by the constant outages in this heat and want our areas to be treated fairly.”

In Hussainiya, protester Haidar al-Nashi called on authorities to follow the standard 4-on, 2-off electricity rotation and assign dedicated repair crews to the most burdened neighborhoods. “These areas are densely populated and heavily loaded, putting pressure on the network,” he said. Al-Nashi also urged the government to stop sewage dumping into the Euphrates River, citing rising cases of illness including kidney failure.

Further south in Jamamla, resident Hassan Kazem said his community and the nearby village of Shidoud continue to suffer neglect. “The Ghaliwain power line is still incomplete and constantly breaks down — it’s a burden for us and for the maintenance teams,” he said.

Kazem added that his area lacks access to piped drinking water and basic road infrastructure. “We want to be treated like neighboring regions,” he said. “We also need a full plan to dredge the main and side canals in the region.”