A sea of dead fish shocks the Iraqis.. What is going on in Basra?
In a shocking scene, thousands of fish floated on the face of the water in the Ezz River in the Al-Majar Al-Kabeer district in the Iraqi governorate of Maysan, due to… Water scarcity and high salinityH.
Activists shared video clips of fish deaths with angry comments about the situation in their areas due to water scarcity.
In turn, the local authorities in the governorate announced, yesterday, Saturday, that they had monitored the death of fish in the Ezz River, warning of the emergence of serious diseases at the same time.
The district commissioner, Ahmed Abbas, said, “The competent monitoring agencies have monitored the death of large quantities of fish in the irrigation channels of the Ezz River in the Al-Majar Al-Kabir district.”
He also pointed out that “this death is not due to diseases, but rather due to a significant lack of water in the region,” according to what was reported by local media.
The disappearance of agriculture
He added that “the district and its affiliated regions are witnessing a terrifying decline in the quantities of water supplied to it,” noting that “agriculture has disappeared this season in the summer due to the lack of water.”
In addition, the district commissioner of Al-Majar Al-Kabir district explained that all indications indicate that the situation in the coming days will be water scarce, warning of the emergence of serious diseases due to the lack of water.
It is noteworthy that Iraq has been suffering from an acute water crisis for several years, but it reached its peak in the past two years to reach dangerous levels during the current year, as many secondary rivers, tributaries and southern marshes dried up.
The water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have decreased, reaching in some regions and governorates below a meter, and people can reach both banks of the river on foot.
Due to the continuous rise in temperatures and increasing water shortages from year to year, Iraq has become among the five most vulnerable countries in the world to the effects of climate change, according to the United Nations.
