Purification operations of Alwand River postponed to avoid "human disasters"

Shafaq News/ The Water Resources department in Khanaqin district, northeast of Diyala, announced postponing the Alwand River purification campaign to avoid human disasters affecting most of the district.

The department's director, Muayyad Shaker, told Shafaq news agency that in coordination with the Directorate of Water Resources and Maintenance of Irrigation and Sanitation Projects, the department had “prepared the necessary mechanisms and equipment to start draining and purifying the River at the beginning of this August, but the operations require blocking and drying the Alwand River water, which threatens to cause disasters of thirst and drought that affect the majority of Khanaqin areas."

Shaker stressed, "The postponement is a precautionary plan to secure drinking water for the coming months, in anticipation of the lack of rain or water revenues," noting, "clearance operations at present require amphibious excavators to maintain the flow of the River towards Khanaqin areas."

"The water reserves of Alwand dam amounted to 27 million m3 and 10 million m3, including mud deposits and release rates of 2 m3 per second, compared to 1 m3 per second of releases coming from Iran."

Khanaqin and most areas of Diyala suffer from an unprecedented water crisis due to the lack of rain and torrential rains for the last winter season, as well as the cutting of riparian rivers by neighboring countries.