Drought depletes Turkey's Tekirdag reservoirs, forcing emergency water curbs
Officials blame the crisis on a sharp drop in rainfall this year, which has pushed the country's freshwater supplies to their lowest level in more than five decades.
The Naip Dam, which saw no rainfall in June or July, has dried up completely, while other reservoirs in Tekirdag have reached critically low levels. Authorities are diverting irrigation water for domestic use, drilling new wells, and installing pump systems in urban areas. But with groundwater also rapidly depleting, officials warn that long-term solutions are urgently needed.
Residents in Tekirdag say they have gone weeks without water at home, resorting to hauling bottles from distant areas or traveling to Istanbul to shower and wash clothes. 'I have been living in filth for the past two months,' said Mehmet, 70, whose family has survived on sporadic supplies. His wife Fatma, 65, said they stay up at night to fill bottles in case the water comes back on.
Rainfall across Turkey fell 71 percent in July from a year earlier, according to the Meteorological Service, with precipitation in the Marmara region—home to Tekirdag and Istanbul—down 95 percent compared to seasonal norms. Officials say climate change has made Tekirdag the worst-hit province in the country, with conditions deteriorating steadily over the past decade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
18 hours ago
- Arab News
Karachi under emergency as flash floods kill seven, paralyze Pakistan's financial hub
KARACHI: Authorities in Pakistan's Sindh province have imposed an emergency in Karachi, the country's largest city and commercial capital, after flash floods triggered by heavy rain inundated vast swathes of the metropolis, killing at least seven people in separate incidents. The downpour on Tuesday brought life to a standstill as several thoroughfares in the city of over 20 million were deluged by floodwaters. Rainwater entered homes in low-lying areas of the city, triggering power outages. Local authorities advised people to avoid commuting as many returning from work and schools were stranded, with vehicles strewn along roads forcing many to navigate to safety in waist-deep water. 'The Mayor Karachi hereby declared Rain Emergency within the city of Karachi,' the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), which oversees administrative affairs of the city, said in a notification. 'The municipal services, fire brigade and USAR (urban search and rescue) departments, KMC are directed to establish Rain Emergency Cell and coordinate with all Essential Services Departments.' Separately, the provincial education department announced that all schools and colleges in Karachi will remain closed on Wednesday on account of the situation. Hassaan Khan, a spokesperson for Sindh Rescue 1122 service, said their teams were working tirelessly across the city to respond to rain-related emergencies. 'Unfortunately, seven people have lost their lives in separate rain-related incidents, four in Gulistan-e-Jauhar after a house wall collapsed, one child in a wall collapse in Orangi and two by electrocution in North Karachi and Defense,' Khan told Arab News. Karachi, a city of more than 20 million with a dilapidated infrastructure, has often seen even moderate rains trigger flooding in parts of the city, threatening lives of residents and causing hours-long power outages. The downpour in Karachi occurred at a time when Pakistan is witnessing an intense monsoon season that has already ravaged several areas, particularly in the country's north where cloudburst-triggered deluges have killed nearly 400 people since Aug. 15. In total, 707 Pakistanis have perished in this year's monsoon season that began on June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Two more spells of rains are expected in the country until mid-September, officials say. The situation has raised fears of a repeat of the catastrophic 2022 floods that submerged a third of Pakistan and killed more than 1,700 people, besides causing $30 billion in economic losses.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Drought depletes Turkey's Tekirdag reservoirs, forcing emergency water curbs
A severe drought in Turkey's northwestern province of Tekirdag has left the region's main dams without potable water, forcing authorities to impose emergency restrictions and leaving some homes without running water for weeks. Officials blame the crisis on a sharp drop in rainfall this year, which has pushed the country's freshwater supplies to their lowest level in more than five decades. The Naip Dam, which saw no rainfall in June or July, has dried up completely, while other reservoirs in Tekirdag have reached critically low levels. Authorities are diverting irrigation water for domestic use, drilling new wells, and installing pump systems in urban areas. But with groundwater also rapidly depleting, officials warn that long-term solutions are urgently needed. Residents in Tekirdag say they have gone weeks without water at home, resorting to hauling bottles from distant areas or traveling to Istanbul to shower and wash clothes. 'I have been living in filth for the past two months,' said Mehmet, 70, whose family has survived on sporadic supplies. His wife Fatma, 65, said they stay up at night to fill bottles in case the water comes back on. Rainfall across Turkey fell 71 percent in July from a year earlier, according to the Meteorological Service, with precipitation in the Marmara region—home to Tekirdag and Istanbul—down 95 percent compared to seasonal norms. Officials say climate change has made Tekirdag the worst-hit province in the country, with conditions deteriorating steadily over the past decade.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
From Drought to Floods, Water Extremes Drive Displacement in Afghanistan
Next to small bundles of belongings, Maruf waited for a car to take him and his family away from their village in northern Afghanistan, where drought-ridden land had yielded nothing for years. "When you have children and are responsible for their needs, then tell me, what are you still doing in this ruin?" said the 50-year-old. Many of the mud homes around him are already empty, he said, his neighbors having abandoned the village, fleeing "thirst, hunger and a life with no future". Successive wars displaced Afghans over 40 years, but peace has not brought total reprieve, as climate change-fulled shocks drive people from their homes and strain livelihoods, reported AFP. Since the war ended between the now-ruling Taliban and US-led forces in 2021, floods, droughts and other climate change-driven environmental hazards have become the main cause of displacement in the country, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM). In early 2025, nearly five million people across the country were impacted and nearly 400,000 people were displaced, the IOM said in July, citing its Climate Vulnerability Assessment. The majority of Afghans live in mud homes and depend heavily on agriculture and livestock, making them particularly exposed to environmental changes. The water cycle has been sharply impacted, with Afghanistan again in the grip of drought for the fourth time in five years and flash floods devastating land, homes and livelihoods. "Crop failure, dry pastures and vanishing water sources are pushing rural communities to the edge," the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in July. "It's getting harder for families to grow food, earn income or stay where they are." Experts and Taliban officials have repeatedly warned of escalating climate risks as temperatures rise, extreme weather events intensify and precipitation patterns shift. The country's limited infrastructure, endemic poverty and international isolation leave Afghans with few resources to adapt and recover -- while already facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises worsened by severe aid cuts. Too little Abdul Jalil Rasooli's village in the drought-hit north has watched their way of life wither with their crops. Drought already drove many from his village to Pakistan and Iran a decade ago. Now they've returned, forced back over the border along with more than four million others from the two neighboring countries since late 2023 -- but to work odd jobs, not the land. "Everything comes down to water," said the 64-year-old, retreating from the day's heat in the only home in the village still shaded by leafy trees. "Water scarcity ruins everything, it destroys farming, the trees are drying up, and there's no planting anymore," he told AFP. Rasooli holds out hope that the nearby Qosh Tepa canal will bring irrigation from the Amu Darya river. Diggers are carving out the last section of the waterway, but its completion is more than a year away, officials told AFP. It's one of the water infrastructure projects the Taliban authorities have undertaken since ousting the foreign-backed government four years ago. But the theocratic government, largely isolated on the global stage over its restrictions on women, has limited resources to address a crisis long exacerbated by poor environmental, infrastructure and resource management during 40 years of conflict. "The measures we have taken so far are not enough," Energy and Water Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor told journalists in July, rattling off a list of dam and canal projects in the pipeline. "There are a lot of droughts... this is Allah's will, first we must turn to Allah." Hamayoun Amiri left for Iran when he was a young man and drought struck his father's small plot of land in western Herat province. Forced to return in a June deportation campaign, he found himself back where he started 14 years ago -- with nothing to farm and his father's well water "getting lower and lower every day". The Harirud river was a dry bed in July as it neared the border with downstream Iran, following a road lined with empty mud buildings pummeled back to dust by the province's summer gales. Too much Taliban authorities often hold prayers for rain, but while the lack of water has parched the land in some parts of the country, changes in precipitation patterns mean rains can be more of a threat than a blessing. This year, rains have come earlier and heavier amid above-average temperatures, increasing flood risks, the UN said. A warmer atmosphere holds more water, so rain often comes in massive, destructive quantities. "The weather has changed," said Mohammad Qasim, a community leader of several villages in central Maidan Wardak battered by flash floods in June. "I'm around 54 years old, and we have never experienced problems like this before," he told AFP in the riverbed full of boulders and cracked mud. Eighteen-year-old Wahidullah's family was displaced after their home was damaged beyond repair and all their livestock were drowned. The family of 11 slept in or near a rudimentary tent on high ground, with no plans or means to rebuild. "We're worried that if another flood comes, then there will be nothing left and nowhere to go."
