(Dohuk) In Iraqi Kurdistan, the remains of the village of Guiri Qasrouka, submerged under the waters of a dam 36 years ago, suddenly resurfaced in the open air because of the drop in water level caused by Drought.
The retaining dam, located two kilometers north of the city of Dohouk, was built from 1985, causing the departure of the inhabitants of Guiri Qasrouka. Since then, the village was under the waters which are used to irrigate the agricultural lands of the region.
But “because of the drought”, the water level fell by seven meters in September compared to the same period last year, freeing the remains of the village, explains Farhad Taher, head of the dam.
“All the water in the dam comes from the rain which has fallen very little this year,” he said. “Three times in the past, in 1992, 1999 and 2009, the remains of Guiri Qasrouka reappeared when the water level dropped sharply.”
“This phenomenon is certainly linked to climate change,” adds Mr. Taher.
Iraq is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. And the north of the country – from the autonomous region of Kurdistan to the Nineveh Plain – is suffering from a drought which is hitting the inhabitants and the agricultural sector hard.
Today, the remains of Guiri Qasrouka can be visited on dry land and in particular a house, the only one whose stone walls are still standing. In places, seaweed and dried seashells still cling to the stone. “We think this building was a school,” explains Farhad Taher.
The other buildings have disappeared and only a few stones still remain in place as well.
Before being submerged, Guiri Qasrouka had some 50 Kurdish families from the Doski tribe since the 1970s.
“The inhabitants left their village for the first time” during a Kurdish insurrection in 1974 and returned there in 1976, historian Karzan Mohammed Bamerni told AFP. “It is one of the many villages to have been evacuated at the time due to the conflict.”
They definitely packed their bags in 1985 when the dam was built and settled on nearby land with financial compensation, baptizing their new village… Guiri Qasrouka, just like the old one.
Today, tourists from Dohuk and the region come to take pictures of themselves in front of its ruins with the imposing Kurdish mountains in the background. The waters are expected to rise with the onset of winter and precipitation.