The wave of heavy rains and floods that swept some areas in Kirkuk province has severely damaged crops of 120 farmers in in a district of Kirkuk.
The floods arose in the Altun Kupri (Pirdy) district, northwest of Kirkuk, last Friday, December 17, after a wave of heavy rains mainly in Erbil and its suburbs.
According to the statistics of the Meteorological commission in Iraqi Kurdistan Region, the percentage of rainfall in Kirkuk on December 17 only was 4.3 mm.
“120 farmers suffered losses, and the damages to each farm ranged between 10 million and 15 million (Iraqi) dinars ($10,000),” said Jawhar Omar, a farmer from Altun Kupri.
The lands of Omar, one of those affected by the floods, are located in the Hawi area.
The governor of Erbil said on Sunday that Erbil Friday flooding resulted in death of 12 people, bodies of two have not been found yet, and caused severe damages worth 20-21 billion Iraqi Dinars as 2,509 families lost all their domestic appliances, 867 vehicles and 402 houses were damaged in 15 different parts of Erbil and its neighbor suburbs.
The northern oil rich and multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk has 1.5 billion square meters of agricultural farmlands, out of which 0.9 billion is allocated for wheat, statistics of directorate of Kirkuk agriculture in 2020 shows.
"The damage caused to us was not caused by the high-water levels of the Little Zab, but by the heavy rain that fell in the Qushtapa district (in Erbil) and the water besieged in that area, which later changed its course towards the Sherawa area. There the water passages leading to the Little Zab were blocked, so it changed its path is towards our agricultural lands,” Omar explained to KirkukNow.
On the same day, heavy rains and torrential rains caused severe damage to dozens of people in Qushtapa, Daratu and several other areas in Erbil province.
Omar calls for compensation of the farmers for the damages they sustained, pointing out that the torrents washed away many of their agricultural equipment and supplies.
Kirkuk's agricultural lands depend mainly on the waters of the Little Zab, which passes through Altun Kupri district, and during the past years, the rising water levels of that river have led to the sinking of thousands of acres of agricultural land.
“According to our knowledge, 700 to 800 dunums of dunams drowned due to last Friday’s rain, most of which was wheat crop,” says Youssef Ali, another farmer among those affected by the Altun Kupri.
700 to 800 acres were inundated due to rain last Friday
Ali pointed out that 25% of the lands that were flooded were for the cultivation of vegetables, such as radish, lettuce and chard, in addition to lands designated for the production of livestock fodder.
"The floods washed away irrigation equipment for some farmers, and damaged their agricultural machines and water wells," Ali elaborated, calling for immediate compensation of those affected, given that agriculture is a major source of livelihood for the people of the area.
Heavy rains resulted in flooding which submerged farmlands in Kirkuk subrubs.
According to the forecasts of the Meteorological Authority in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, a wave of heavy rain will start from Monday December 20 and continue until Wednesday evening, with the possibility of flooding in some areas.
Muhammad Ahmed, head of the Agriculture Division in Altun Kupri said they have documented the losses of inflicted farmers of the area with photos and submitted a report Kirkuk Agriculture Department. “We were assigned by the department to immediately start registering the names of those affected with the aim of compensating them."
This comes at a time that victims of last years have not yet been compensated.
“Farmers were not compensated for flood damage in any year, except for 2008 due to drought not floods but this year we will strive to compensate them,” Ahmed affirmed.
According to follow-ups conducted by KirkukNow previously, last year rain and hail in several areas of Kirkuk damaged thousands of dunums planted with wheat and barley crops, and in 2019 the high-water level of the Little Zab drowned at least 100 orchards in the area between Taqtaq and Altun Kupri on both sides of the river.
