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Tunisia, which is suffering a fourth straight year of serious
drought, recorded a drop in its dam capacity to around 1 billion
cubic meters, or 30% of the maximum, due to a scarcity of rain
from September 2022 to mid-March 2023, senior agriculture
ministry official Hamadi Habib said.
The agriculture ministry also banned the use of potable water to
wash cars, water green areas and clean streets and public
places. Violators face a fine and imprisonment for a period of
between six days to six months, according to the Water Law.
Residents said that Tunisian authorities have for the last two
weeks been cutting off drinking water at night in some areas of
the capital and other cities in a bid to cut consumption, a move
that has sparked widespread anger. The government declined to
comment on the claim.
The new decision threatens to fuel social tension in a country
whose people suffer from poor public services, high inflation
and a weak economy.
The Sidi Salem Dam in the north of the country, a key provider
of drinking water to several regions, has declined to only 16%
of its maximum capacity of 580 million cubic meters, official
figures showed.
Tunisia’s grain harvest will be "disastrous", with the
drought-hit crop declining to 200,000-250,000 tonnes this year
from 750,000 tonnes in 2022, senior farmers union official
Mohamed Rjaibia told Reuters on Thursday.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by David Goodman and Jan
Harvey)
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