IRAQ: Heavy rain highlights poor sewage network

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BAGHDAD, 16 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Recent heavy rains in Baghdad have left many of the capital's streets and buildings flooded, causing parts of the sewage system to break down and threatening residents' health.

"The water came inside our house reaching 40 cm high, damaging all our furniture and electrical equipment. We contacted a department of the Baghdad Mayoralty [which manages the city's services] in Al-Hurriyah [district], but they refused to help us saying that they had no equipment," resident Sa'ad Kamel told IRIN.

The rain started late last week and came down heavily for 24 hours all over the city, putting a massive strain on the city's ageing sewage system.

"I moved with my family to the second floor to save my children from water and the bad smell which started to spread in the house because of sewage," Al-Hurriyah resident Abd al Rahman Ali told IRIN.

There have been a number of efforts to update and repair the sewage system over the past two years but a lack of money, corruption and insecurity have all contributed to painfully slow progress on the matter. The US army has been involved in helping the Iraqi authorities to repair and replace sewage pumps but security threats have hampered operations. Initial contracts for repairs went to international companies such as Bechtel but the interim Iraqi administration has since replaced US contractors with Iraqi companies - something that some officials say is causing problems in itself.

"Relying on inexpert Iraqi contractors was a big mistake because most of their work is not up to standard, and besides this, official corruption makes things worst," a Baghdad Mayoralty official, who declined to be named, told IRIN,

The flooding and resultant sewage overspill have also led to a rise in health problems, with doctors treating hundreds of respiratory and gastric cases in the past few days.

"We examined around 400 to 500 cases during this rainy day [Thursday]. Most of them are children suffering from colds, diarrhoea, coughing and hard breathing," Dr Hassen al Janabi, manager of the Child's Teaching Hospital in the city, told IRIN.

"I think the number of patients will be more than that in the next few days when people are able to leave their houses, because most of them are trapped by water [at the moment]," he continued.

Dr al Janabi also said that the hospital itself was surrounded by water, forcing them to close the main gate, leaving the side gate open to patients.

More than 50 houses were flooded with water in Al-Hurriyah, Sad'r city and Karada. In Sad'r city around 10 houses collapsed leaving two dead and up to a dozen injured.

The consequences of the rain have brought severe criticism from residents who said that the authorities were slow to respond, with press attacks on the Baghdad Mayoralty continuing five days on, as many streets and buildings remain waterlogged.

"We are just councillors and supervisers, we cannot do anything to help people, we are not responsible any more, all sewage sections are connected directly with the Baghdad Mayoralty sewage administration as of November last year," Amer Hassen, maintenance manager in Al-Mansur municipality, told IRIN.

"We received many telephone calls from residents in Al-Washash, Al-Askan, Gazaliyah and other flooded areas with weak sewage sections," he added.

Officials at Baghdad's Mayoralty said that the sewage system was old and their capacities were limited compared with size of the population in Baghdad.

They also said that cracks in the secondary pipes were the main reason for the collapse of the system, and denied any problem with the main pumping sections.

"Most of our equipment was stolen during the looting period after the war and we cannot move as fast as before. Besides, the Baghdad sewage section which was built in 1984 by the Indian company Madmac and needs huge maintenance, which is something we cannot do at the moment," Ahem Salem, maintenance engineer for the Baghdad mayoralty, told IRIN.

[ENDS]