Tunisia water shortages spark ?thirst uprising?
 

Activists are warning of a potential "thirst uprising" in Tunisia following protests over severe water shortages after one of the **rth African nation´s driest summers on record.

Residents in the interior are suffering long water supply cuts, reservoirs are running dry and farmers are seeing significant losses, adding to social tensions in a country still struggling with instability since its 2011 revolution.

The Tunisian citizens´ water observatory, k**wn as Watchwater, warned last month the country could face a "thirst uprising" reminiscent of the protest movement that spread across Tunisia nearly six years ago.

"The failure to find urgent and serious solutions will increase protests across the country," it said.

Water scarcity has long been a problem for Tunisia, but in recent years the challenge has been exacerbated by growing urbanisation and increasing demand from agriculture and industry.

This year has seen the country particularly hard-hit, with rainfall -- Tunisia´s main water source -- down by some 30 percent, the state secretary for water resources and fishing, Abdallah Rabhi, told AFP.

In August, the agriculture ministry warned Tunisia would be facing a "catastrophic" situation if it did **t rain by the end of the summer. The few rainstorms since have **t been e**ugh to replenish groundwater reserves or reservoirs.

Agricultural losses for this year have already reached nearly two billion dinars, according to the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The ministry of religious affairs has even called on the people to "pray for rain".

Since mid-May, the authorities have an**unced more than 700 water supply cuts. Officially they last from several hours to three days, but Alaa Marzouki of Watchwater said that in some regions the cuts have lasted nearly a month.

Protests have erupted in several affected areas, with the water shortages adding to the frustrations of many residents who feel their concerns are being ig**red by authorities in Tunis.

At one demonstration in the **rthwestern town of Fernana earlier this month, protesters gathered at a local pumping station and threatened to disrupt supplies to the capital, according to local media reports.

"Eco**mic protests resembling those that sparked the 2010 Jasmine Revolution are spreading throughout Tunisia and may grow into nationwide civil unrest," the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute warned in a report this month.

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