تجفيف الأنهر في الأحواز المحتلة ((باللغة الانجليزية)) بقلم: زينب عبد الحميد
The Drying of Rivers in Al-Ahwaz
Al-Ahwaz is known for its rivers like the Karoon River located in Ahwaz, Aljarahee located in Alfalaheya. There are other rivers like alkarkhe, but these two are the most well-known rivers between all of the other rivers. The people that live surrounding this area depend on the water from these rivers for their daily usage. The Iranian authorities drain all of these rivers, to move them elsewhere. They take advantage of the Ahwazi people; they take away their most important resource for their survival.
Hundreds of families have suffered because of this situation, because of the draining of the rivers that surround them. This led many women and men to walk long distances to get water to drink for their families. They bring water multiple times a day from rivers far away from where they live using barrels or any large container. The conditions that some of these people live are considered conditions only found in third world countries like Africa. Even though Al-Ahwaz is known for its natural resources, the Iranian authorities are confiscating all of the natural resources for their own benefit. They do not think of the harm that they are doing to all these families, and even if they notice the harm, they do not do anything to fix what they have done.
The Iranian Authorities built many dams to keep water in one place, and then they move it to the Iranian cities where they do not have water. Not only do they confiscate all of the water from karoon and other rivers, they deliberately pollute the water so the Ahwazi people would get sick. They dump garbage, sewer water, and other pollutants. The area next to the rivers gets filled with garbage, and the stench of the garbage reaches the homes of the people that live next to these rivers. The Arab population in Al-Ahwaz got harmed because of this situation. Those who could afford to buy clean water, stopped drinking tap water, they started buying big barrels of water. These barrels do not last long, they only last the family about one day or two days maximum. It depends on the family size; those with big families have a hard time with finding clean water to drink. Of course those who could not afford to buy bottled water kept on drinking tap water.
The water is so dirty that it looks yellow, and people have no choice but to drink it. If they do not drink it they will be dehydrated. There were many cases of children dying of dehydration, or from drinking this kind of water. Children are not the only ones that get affected by this contaminated water, but also adults get affected too. Some of the side effects of drinking this kind of water are: diarrhea, vomiting, and other illnesses. This is not the only problem that the Ahwazi people face; water gets cut off on a daily basis. This is a problem for many, because during the summer days the temperature rises until the heat is unbearable. The Arab population does not find water to drink, or to use for their personal hygiene.
Without water there is no life. The situation in Al-Ahwaz is getting worse every day. There is a shortage of water in almost every area in Al-Ahwaz, and this caused many families to leave their homes and live elsewhere. The Arab population lives near the rivers, but the cruel Iranian regime relocate all of the water from these rivers to the Iranian cities. This method is used to slowly let the Arab population die from water shortage.
Zeinab Abdulhamid
