Lack of water causes sickness in Hatay, a town devastated by earthquakes and extreme heat

Hundreds of people who survived the Earthquakes in February are now waiting in line for water under the hot sun on a dry area of ground outside of Antakya, in southern Turkey.

Water has become a valuable resource throughout the disaster-affected area as authorities work to fix broken pipelines and other water infrastructure issues.

The difficulties in obtaining one of life’s needs has been made worse in Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, by a Mediterranean heatwave that has seen temperatures rise beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The heat has been made worse for those residing in tents and containers, which were put in place as temporary housing after the earthquakes six months ago, by the dust clouds produced by construction operations.

After taking a dozen water bottles from the distribution center, Ayhan Tekin, 43, stated, “We are having water, food, and hygiene concerns. “We are unable to escape the dust and smoke.

“We are unable to shower. We become aware of how priceless a bath is when we get home in the evening. We are unable to clean. Pests and flies are everywhere.

Since the February 6 earthquakes, which killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and at least 8,000 in Syria, there has been a Lack of water for drinking, cooking, and washing. This has led to disease. Serious long-term respiratory issues could result from the dusty circumstances.

Sevdar Yilmaz, the head of Hatay Medical Chamber, referred to the lack of water often used to dampen down dust thrown up during demolition when he said, “The biggest problem we have here is not using water while removing the rubble and demolishing buildings.”

Future illnesses will be brought on by this, I’m afraid. Eye, throat, and other problems are already prevalent, as are coughing fits and shortness of breath.

Asthma issues are predicted to become more prevalent in the future, whereas lung, throat, and laryngeal cancer cases are predicted to become more common over the long term. However, the immediate problems have been diseases like diarrhea brought on by poor cleanliness, according to Yilmaz.

In locations where community meals are consumed, he continued, “Inspections are not carried out adequately.” “We have observed cases of poisoning in people who frequent some of the same restaurants.”

Water Availability

While dispensing bottled water has served as a temporary remedy, the urgent need is to supply drinkable mains water.

Locals have criticized Hatay municipality’s water and sewage agency, HATSU, citing the fact that they still need to drive great distances to collect bottled water as one of their complaints.

However, according to the government, they are overburdened with infrastructure work and are hampered by widespread destruction, population movement, a lack of funds, and limited foreign assistance.

Ikbal Polat, general manager of HATSU, stated that the workload is more than 12 times larger than it was prior to the earthquakes.

Water and infrastructure issues plague the city. HATSU is an earthquake-affected institution, however it is still operational. I can relate to the people of Hatay’s response, issues, and rage. Although there are issues, we try our best.

According to Polat, the agency’s lack of money stems from its decreased clientele since the earthquakes, along with the difficulty of building pipelines to supply container and tent “cities” and other similar structures.

“We currently have requests for sewer connections for 2,000 container homes in various areas,” he stated. “Our team is finding it difficult to handle the workload because it exceeds HATSU’s capacity.”

According to health chief Yilmaz, aid that initially poured into Hatay and the other 10 damaged provinces after the earthquakes has gradually dried up.

Only 30 municipalities out of the 110 that first supplied supplies and labor, he added, are still providing assistance.

“Hatay Metropolitan Municipality cannot complete this task on its own. The infrastructure must get serious outside assistance to regain its functionality.

Not enough assistance

Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas claimed that HATSU had not made any money in the four months since the earthquakes and that its clientele had decreased by 40%.

“We kept working under those circumstances, but we don’t have the chance to fight the growing issues and expenses alone,” he stated. “Water sources dried up, and wells disappeared. The major lines were interrupted.

A request for comment regarding the amount of assistance provided to earthquake-affected communities was not immediately answered by AFAD, the government’s relief coordination agency.

Water scarcity is a widespread issue, not just in cities. After their home was destroyed, 35-year-old Gul Basaran and her four children now reside outside the town of Samandag on the Mediterranean coast of Hatay.

She said, “My kids are queasy; I’m worried they’ve been poisoned.” We use water from the mountains to suit our requirements, but it doesn’t flow very much. Five liters of water take 20 minutes to arrive.

God, please do not put anyone in our circumstance. I’m not sure what to do at all.

Water issues have affected everyone, including those whose homes were unscathed by the tremors.

Engineer Adnan Ozcelik claimed that despite his property in Antakya being unharmed, he still does not have access to water.

He asked, “How can they return when there is no water? There is a call for people to’return to Hatay’.” “The water bill arrived recently, too. They demand payment for a service we never received.

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