Puvirnituq mayor sees reason for hope as water shortage continues
Schools have closed, elders and health-centre patients have been temporarily sent south, and last week the Quebec government made an emergency delivery of 54 tonnes of water to help Puvirnituq through its ongoing water shortage crisis.
A house fire Saturday destroyed two homes in Puvirnituq, as the limited amount of water hampered efforts of firefighters. (Photo by Lucy Qalingo)
Mayor Lucy Qalingo hopes the community never has to go through this again.
'We are Canadians, and we have to get the same treatment as anyone else in Canada,' she told Nunatsiaq News on Tuesday.
Puvirnituq's council declared a state of emergency Saturday after the water shortage hampered firefighters working to extinguish a house fire.
Nine weeks ago, on March 18, the pipe that carries water from the pump at the nearby river about five kilometres to the treatment plant in town froze. A boil water advisory was issued, and since then municipal trucks have drawn untreated water directly from the river and transported it to homes and buildings in the community of about 2,100 people.
Blizzard conditions have hampered efforts to deliver water.
'Our heavy equipment, like loaders and bulldozers, have been breaking down because of the amount of snow that we have been getting,' Qalingo said in a video-conference interview. 'We are overwhelmed.
'We always have those issues every year. We have normalized it.'
The two schools in Puvirnituq, including Iquarsivik shown here, had to close prematurely as the water crisis prompted Kativik Ilisarniliriniq to send its teachers south. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
This year has 'made us realize that this is not normal. We are Canadians as well, we should get the same treatment as anyone else in Canada.'
On May 16, the Inuulitsivik Health Centre deployed its contingency plan and relocated health-centre patients and Sailivik long-term elders facility residents, with accompanying nurses, to hospitals in Montreal.
Qalingo said the community's two schools closed due to the water crisis. The school year was ended early, and school board Kativik Ilisarniliriniq sent teachers south to alleviate the burden facing water distribution in Puvirnituq.
She said the community won't receive a new water pipe until the sea ice melts. The pipe has to be delivered by ship from England.
During the crisis, some assistance has arrived. Receiving such support in a time like this 'has been stressful, but also amazing at the same time,' Qalingo said.
Following its emergency water delivery, the Quebec government said more water will be shipped in over the coming days.
Qalingo said Puvirnituq also received help from neighbouring Inukjuak, with some of its municipal staff working night shifts on the loaders and helping with water distribution.
As well, families and friends from neighbouring communities offered to do Puvirnituq residents' laundry, flying it in and out of the village. And Puvirnituq itself has been distributing dry shampoo, hand sanitizer and wet towels to residents.
Qalingo said she has written the Quebec government asking that the Canadian Rangers be deployed to help out.
She said she sees light at the end of the tunnel — the snow is beginning to melt and the temperature is warming up.
Environment and Climate Change Canada's seven-day forecast for Puvirnituq shows a high temperature of 2 C on Wednesday, going up to 11 C on Saturday and 10 C on Sunday.
Municipal workers are installing a hose to act as a temporary connection between the water pump and the water treatment plant until the new pipe arrives.
'Hopefully by Sunday, we will be able to use it because it freezes too and we have to keep it warm,' she said.
The Quebec government said in a news release Sunday that when the crisis ends, it will conduct an evaluation with Nunavik authorities to identify solutions to prevent it from happening again.
'This is not a time to pinpoint anyone, this is not a blaming game,' said Qalingo.
'It has to be heard at the government level, because the money we are receiving for the services to go on is not enough and it has not been enough for so many years.
'I hope that what we are going through today will not happen to our children. We always have to try to aim for a better future.'
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