Iraq: Iraqi Red Crescent and its role in managing the crisis of water scarcity in the city of Mosul.
The city of Mosul has passed through a very critical period because of the violence and the events that happened in the city, which resulted in great destruction that hit its infrastructure and all its service institutions, which adversely affected the living and health situation of the people in the above-mentioned city. Among the most prominent of these problems and challenges is the crisis of drinking water scarcity, which is considered the nerve of life, warning of a humanitarian disaster for the people of the city.
In a quick response from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) to provide assistance to the people of the city of Mosul, many measures have been taken in order to manage this crisis, the IRCS has begun meetings with humanitarian organizations and partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the Swedish Red Cross, the French Red Cross, In order to find effective solutions to the crisis of scarcity of potable water in the city, also the IRCS has put plans and programs implemented in stages to help the people of the city to overcome the challenges of this crisis.
“Since the first months of the return of the displaced families to their areas in the left and right sides of Mosul city, the IRCS`s teams in coordination and cooperation with the municipal directorates in the city, have transported drinking water by the water tanker cars which belongs to the Ghazalani project in order to purify and filtering water in the Qayara area to the right side neighborhoods of Mosul, after installing (85) water tank in a capacity of (5000 liters) in (12) districts, which is processed daily more than (53000) liters of drinking water, the number of beneficiaries has reached more than 16,000 families”, said Mr. Hyder Qassim the relief official in Nineveh governorate.
“Water purification and desalination systems were installed in (15) schools on the right side of the city of Mosul and equipped with refrigerators and water reservoirs, adding to provide water 2000 liters per day, where the IRCS has supplied health and purified water to more than 3800 students who were suffering from water scarcity in their schools”, Qassim added.
One of the volunteers of the IRCS in Nineveh said: “The teams of the IRCS in cooperation with Swedish Red Cross have set up water purification plant (RO) with a production capacity (10000 liters/hour) in the general hospital of the city of Mosul and provide a purified and healthy water in the Dialysis center and the center of operations in the hospital, as well as equipped with a tank capacity (2000 liters) and replace the old pipe network with new ones”.
The IRCS continues to take all necessary steps and measures to help the people of Mosul to face the crisis of water scarcity and in order to overcome the challenges of this difficult phase of the city.