Ramadi, Iraq – The most precious resource in the villages of al-Ankour is water, and it’s gone. Many of the area’s 13,000 residents want to leave but don’t have the means to escape.
Habbaniyah Lake, once a sprawling body of water spanning 140sq km (55sq miles) with a capacity of 3.3 billion cubic metres (4.2 billion cubic yards), is rapidly shrinking as a devastating water crisis unfolds around it. The land is cracked, the sun stings and locals are struggling to cope.
A trace of toxic waste wafts from the edge of the lake, the stench of putrid water hitting long before it can be seen. In some parts of the village, salt-encrusted ground irritates the nose, the burning sun increasing the residue.
“We have no water, no electricity, no air conditioning,” shouts Abdulraheem Ismail, 44, in front of his mud-brick home in al-Ankour, south of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq, as the scorching midday heat reaches 40C (104F).
The villages worst impacted are on the south side of the lake, 40km (25 miles) from Ramadi.
An abandoned water purification tower, long out of use, looms to Ismail’s right.
Post from www.aljazeera.com
