by Dahr Jamail
Water from the Tigris River -- consumed by Iraqis in Baghdad every day -- is contaminated with war waste, and much of it goes untreated despite obligations of a US company to reconstruct vital facilities.
Baghdad , Jun 6 - With reconstruction of a highly inadequate water treatment and distribution system at a near standstill throughout much of Central Iraq, some residents of Baghdad are left with little choice but to drink highly polluted water from the Tigris River. Aside from a newly formed Iraqi non-governmental organization that is focusing on the cleanup of one section of the river, not much is being done to improve Baghdad residents’ access to potable water, and US contractors appear unable or unwilling to help.
While many areas of Baghdad have access to drinking water from a few of the functional treatment plants, millions of residents remain without a clean, reliable source. All too many of these unfortunates turn to the rotten banks of the Tigris, which snakes prominently through the heart of Baghdad collecting toxins as it flows.
In an alarming development, Dr. Husni Mohammed’s research has additionally concluded that Iraqi and US military waste during the 2003 invasion deposited oil and benzene into the Tigris, the effects of which include nervous system damage, birth defects and cancer.
Abdul Salam Abdulali works on the river, running a dredging machine. A river man for most of his life, he has long been employed by a company that dredges the muddy Tigris, but which was recently incorporated into the Ministry of Water Resources.
"I am married to the water," he said standing atop his dredging machine as it floated atop the river. "But it is too polluted now. I wish I could eat the fish, but when I cut them open I can smell the oil."
PHOTO: The remains of a cow decompose on the banks of the Tigris near Baghdad, a major and often direct source of water for the city's residents. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard)
The residents of the impoverished Baghdad neighborhood called Sadr City are often forced to drink untreated water directly from the Tigris. They are also plagued by diarrhea; many reportedly suffer from recurring kidney stones.
Sadr City shopkeeper Ranzi Amher Aziz joined a chorus of voices protesting the lack of potable water in this Baghdad slum. "The situation here is worse now than before the war," he said, echoing others’ complaints.
Many here say they cannot see any sign of the US making an effort to help. Aziz stood near a pool of raw sewage in the street. "There has been no work here by the Americans to give us clean water or fix the sewage problem," he said.
Tigris River water is a concentrated cocktail of pesticides, fertilizers, oil, gasoline and heavy metals, reports Dr. Husni Mohammed, an Iraqi who holds a PhD in Environmental and Biological Science and has researched the condition of the Tigris. Raw sewage mixes with particles from antiquated piping and US-fired depleted uranium munitions, he says, plus remnants from untold amounts of other chemicals released by American and Iraqi weaponry used since the 1991 Gulf War.
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