Activists are warning of a potential "thirst uprising" in Tunisia following protests over severe water shortages after one of the North African nation's driest summers on record.
Residents
in the interior are suffering long water supply cuts, reservoirs are
running dry and farmers are seeing significant losses, adding to social
tensions in a country still struggling with instability since its 2011
revolution.
The Tunisian citizens' water observatory, known as Watchwater, warned last month the country could face a "thirst uprising" reminiscent of the protest movement that spread across Tunisia nearly six years ago.
"The failure to find urgent and serious solutions will increase protests across the country," it said.
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Water scarcity has been exacerbated in recent years by growing urbanisation and increasing demand from agriculture and industry
(AFP/File)
Water scarcity has
long been a problem for Tunisia, but in recent years the challenge has
been exacerbated by growing urbanisation and increasing demand from
agriculture and industry.
This year has seen the
country particularly hard-hit, with rainfall -- Tunisia's main water
source -- down by some 30 percent, the state secretary for water
resources and fishing, Abdallah Rabhi, told AFP.
In August, the agriculture ministry warned Tunisia would be facing a "catastrophic"
situation if it did not rain by the end of the summer. The few
rainstorms since have not been enough to replenish groundwater reserves
or reservoirs.
Agricultural losses for this year
have already reached nearly two billion dinars ($900 million/800 million
euros), according to the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Call to 'pray for rain'
The ministry of religious affairs has even called on the people to "pray for rain".
Since
mid-May, the authorities have announced more than 700 water supply
cuts. Officially they last from several hours to three days, but Alaa
Marzouki of Watchwater said that in some regions the cuts have lasted
nearly a month.
Protests have erupted in several
affected areas, with the water shortages adding to the frustrations of
many residents who feel their concerns are being ignored by authorities
in Tunis.
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Reserves at Tunisia's 30 dams and reservoirs had reduced by 40 percent between August 2015 and 2016
(AFP)
At one demonstration
in the northwestern town of Fernana earlier this month, protesters
gathered at a local pumping station and threatened to disrupt supplies
to the capital, according to local media reports.
"Economic
protests resembling those that sparked the 2010 Jasmine Revolution are
spreading throughout Tunisia and may grow into nationwide civil unrest," the Washington-based American
