The dangers of the Tigris Dam

The water level in the Tigris River continues to rise in parallel with the flow of water after a hatch in the Tigris Dam in Amil's Eğil district was closed.

Güner Yanlıç talked to ANF about the rising of the water level after the closure of a hatch at the Tigris Dam.

He said that the Tigris had flowed for over 2,000 years, but had never reached this level before.

The water level in the Tigris River continues to rise in parallel with the flow of water after a hatch in the Tigris Dam in Amil's Eğil district was closed.

In the Tigris Valley, where the water level rose by 6 meters, many agricultural lands, including a part of the Hewsel Gardens which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, were flooded.

The waters almost reached houses in some points causing concern to the people living there. In Amed, the historic Ongözlü Bridge area remained under water.

 

Güner Yanlıç spoke to ANF about the issue and said that the intervention on the Tigris had these worrying consequences.

"If you say you will dominate the nature, build dams in every place, you will end up finding this landscape," said Yanlıç who added: “The Tigris river has been flowing for over 2 thousand years, and never met this landscape. We must live in harmony with nature.”

Yanlıç added: “We are happy because it appears that there is no loss of life, but we are worried about the condition of the other caps. We don't know how safe the other caps are. They can also be a danger.”

Hewsel Gardens are seriously damaged. Bismil, Batman and Cizre were also likely to suffer material losses, say Yanlıç.

“The water height is now between 4 and 6 meters, then there will be a height of 8 to 10 meters of water in the stream bed. This could lead to even greater losses and even loss of lives."

Stating that the flow of water will last for three more days, Yanlıç stated that five districts and 11 neighborhoods were affected.