rising groundwater sows anxiety in the town of Zliten

Dozens of houses, streets and farms were flooded in this town of 350,000 inhabitants located 160 kilometers from the capital Tripoli.

Fear of an environmental crisis. A spectacular rise in groundwater in the town of Zliten, in western Libya, pushed dozens of families to flee their flood-damaged homes on Thursday February 15. Dozens of houses, streets and farms were flooded, but the urban center was largely spared.

According to witnesses from the city of 350,000 inhabitants, the phenomenon is not new in this region but its current scale is unprecedented. Zliten is a coastal town surrounded by an area that was once covered by salt marshes. It is also home to al-Asmariya University, one of the most important and prestigious Sufi sanctuaries in Libya.

Stagnant water and mosquitoes

While the deadly floods which devastated the town of Derna, in eastern Libya, in September are still on everyone’s minds, Zliten, located 160 kilometers from the capital Tripoli, and its countryside have for two months seen the soil oozing and water tables continue to rise. Stagnant water and mud in the streets and palm groves have attracted mosquitoes and give off foul odors.

Nearly fifty families were rehoused or received an allowance for renting accommodation. Several institutions, including the authority managing the Great Artificial River which irrigates a large part of Libya, the general electricity company and the water company, are mobilized. The National Center for Disease Control sent emergency teams, equipment and pesticides to contain the mosquito problem.

Alongside these measures, teams of foreign experts, including British, Greeks and Egyptians, have visited this city one after the other to try to identify the origin of the problem and find remedies designed to prevent the city from being engulfed as the fear the residents.