Child dies while drawing water with a bucket in a village hit by power cuts

* Photo: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Batman MP Feleknas Uca has brought the death of 16-year-old İsa Üke into the Parliamentary agenda.

Living in Yeniçağlar village in southeastern province of Batman, Üke lost his life while trying to draw water from a canal with a bucket as the Dicle Electricity Distribution Inc. (DEDAŞ) cut the electricity of seven villages in Kozluk district. With most of their water needs met by electrically driven pumps and their electricity cut due to unpaid electricity bills, the villages' power units meeting the needs of water were also deprived of electricity.

Living in one of the villages of Batman unable to access electricity and water for days, 16-year-old Üke has lost his life while trying to draw water from the canal of the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ).

Submitting a Parliamentary question within this context, HDP Batman MP Feleknas Uca has raised concerns that in addition to the lack of water faced by Batman and its surrounding provinces, there are also no measures taken for children in the irrigation canals of the DSİ.

Uca has protested that no Parliamentary questions submitted about the deaths in previous years were answered and no work was undertaken: "Our questions about the water cuts in villages were not responded to and no work was undertaken about villagers' access to water."

'Is it a deliberately pursued policy?'

Against this backdrop, HDP Batman MP Feleknas Uca has asked the following questions to Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu:

1- What is the reason for the failure to take any measures in the irrigation canals that have been causing the deaths of children for years?

2- Who is responsible for the water cuts that also led to the death of İsa Üke and for the failure to establish a protection system around the irrigation canal? Has an investigation been launched against the responsible parties or will an investigation be launched against them?

3- Have you been engaged in any talks with the DEDAŞ about the power cuts leading to the water problem? If yes, what steps will be taken to eliminate this problem and to ensure that it will not happen again?

4- Is the deprivation of Kurdish cities of water a deliberately pursued policy? If not, what is the reason behind this negligence claiming people's lives?

5- What is the reason behind the failure to answer our Parliamentary questions about the irrigation canals and water cuts?

6- In the last five years, how many applications have been made to your Ministry about the DEDAŞ, which is in the position of the sole energy provider in Batman, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Siirt and Şırnak?

(AÖ/SD)