Dust storms hit Iraqi cities as Green Belt project stalls
Desertification has hit additional land areas in Iraq, which caused more dust storms to sweep through Iraqi cities, in the absence of the Green Belt project despite the huge sums allocated for its implementation.
Sand storms have become increasingly frequent in Iraq, hitting not only the vast deserts, but also Baghdad and other cities, blanketing houses, institutions, government headquarters and shops in yellow dust.
Videos show the cities’ residents cleaning their living rooms after the dust storm, which caused low visibility. The latest storm of May 5 has left many people with breathing difficulties, with 5,000 cases admitted into health care centers.
Iraqi Minister of Water Resources Hassan al-Janabi tweeted, “When I was buying bread, the baker may have lowered salt level in the dough, using instead the natural salty dust,” in a bid to describe the people’s sufferings.
Weather forecaster Sadiq Attia told Al-Monitor, “Dust storms are a natural phenomenon associated with other factors such as lack of rain, high temperatures, winds and the type of soil.” Iraq can learn from other countries’ experiences, he said, "by building artificial ponds and planting trees before the rainy season, in addition to the green belts around the cities so as to weaken the storms.”
