Diwaniyah drowns in neglect as Baghdad falters
Residents in Diwaniyah province compare their crumbling city to a war zone as basic services collapse despite massive budget allocations in recent years. Citizens describe streets filled with garbage and lacking proper sewage systems that make simple trips dangerous. Iraq faces a severe water shortage, with supplies dropping to 150 cubic meters per second, the lowest in recorded history, while the population requires 16 billion liters daily but receives only 13 billion. Officials warn nine million Iraqis could lose access to drinking water if consumption patterns continue.
Election campaigns in Anbar have created safety hazards as oversized candidate posters block roads and cause traffic accidents. The Kirkuk-Salahaddin highway claimed roughly 750 lives in one year while remaining a deteriorating single carriageway despite an 11-year-old dual carriageway plan. The Kurdistan Regional Government has invested one trillion dinars in 718 road projects over six years, constructing 2,681 kilometers of modern highways. The regional government recently transformed the Gomaspan-Kasnazan route from a dangerous single carriageway into a dual highway using 600 machines and 2,000 workers.
