Fish ponds destroyed in Taqtaq after heavy rain

ERBIL — Heavy rainfall on Tuesday in Taqtaq subdistrict of Koya district destroyed hundreds of privately built fish ponds, sweeping their entire fish stocks into nearby waterways, local agriculture officials said.

The ponds, many constructed along the riverbanks between Taqtaq and the villages of Malaziyad, Chomhaidar and Kani Rash, collapsed under pressure from rising water levels. Posts shared on social media from within Taqtaq claimed that more than 500 ponds may have been destroyed.

Sabah Haji Osman told 964media that officials still “do not know exactly how many ponds were damaged because of yesterday’s rain,” but said the number is high. He said a special committee will be formed through the district administration “to assess the damage to these ponds and collect all related information.”

Taqtaq’s municipality and Koya’s agriculture directorate had previously warned that most of the ponds were built illegally and without notifying the relevant authorities. Taqtaq Mayor Nemr Nyazi Kakrash told 964media earlier that the ponds were not designed to withstand winter conditions, noting that rising water levels cause them to fail. He said “the ponds are made of soil, and with heavy rain and higher water levels they collapse one after another.”

Koya agriculture director Yousif Salim told 964media that all fish ponds in the area are at risk, saying “they were built randomly, and most of them without permits, and no guidelines were followed during their construction.”

According to the Koya Agriculture Directorate, there are nearly 2,000 fish ponds within the boundaries of Taqtaq, Ashti and Segirdkan alone, in addition to hundreds of smaller ponds around Shwana subdistrict.

Recent storms have already caused deadly flooding across the Kurdistan Region. On Tuesday, two people were killed and 12 injured in Chamchamal district, where authorities reported damage to more than 500 houses. In Kirkuk governorate, a nine-year-old girl died after being swept away by floodwaters in Farqani village. Sulaymaniyah city recorded 122.7 millimeters of rain in the past 24 hours, bringing the season’s total to 258.7 millimeters.