The inhabitants gradually realized that they were living near a dirty river of water charged with various toxic substances from Tamanrasset, thus, putting their lives in danger because of pollution that poisons the wells and agricultural land, their only source of income.
Anyone who would visit the village would realize the sad reality in which the inhabitants live. Although the village is located near the capital of the Hoggar, it is still underdeveloped.
Indeed, the inhabitants of this region complain of the absence of the slightest conditions of hygiene, since there is no clinic, or physician, or paved roads, or even power. Electricity does not in fact cover all the village inhabitants. The waste submerged the village to an extent that the inhabitants have to walk in the waste to go to any neighbourhood. This situation made their lives become even more dramatic.
When we arrived in the village and after crossing the river of dirty water that surrounds the place, we discussed with one of the villagers, Uncle Mohamed, who was in his field, leaning on a stick. His face bears the same stigma as his villagers exhausted by the hardships of life. He was busy giving directives to his four sons, telling how to plant salads.
During our discussion with Uncle Mohamed, he explained to us that the river besieging the city has gradually been made up of the accumulated sewage that has been flowing near the village for over ten years. But the situation worsened in nearly five years when they started to run what is called the "project of the century" which increased the flow of water whose abundance exerted more pressure on the pump located near the village.
Uncle Mohamed adds:" Although the inhabitants contacted local officials and protested peacefully, the authorities paid no attention to them. But with time, this disgusting river has come to represent a real danger to our lives, that of our children and to the lands that are our only means of survival."
Agricultural products from Taghermbayt lands are in fact rejected on the market because consumers fear diseases that could be transmitted by infected vegetables. This situation is added to the sufferings of the inhabitants who are thrown in the hell of unemployment. Moreover, according to Uncle Mohamed, villagers are now afraid of drinking water from wells contaminated by dirty water.
Our interlocutor explains further that "these putrid waters are threatening the health of the inhabitants, especially children who are not aware of this danger. Many of them also drank water from some wells, unaware of the risk they were taking by doing so and being accustomed to drinking river water. This caused them a number of skin diseases and several other water-borne infections." This poisoned water even caused the death of three children according to Uncle Mohamed.
The village is also experiencing abnormal invasion of disease-carrying insects such as flies, mosquitoes, and many others that did not even spare animals.
Indeed, Uncle Mohamed is astonished to see new diseases affecting animals, specifically cattle, "When they kill a goat, for example, we find its lungs all black with a rotting smell that emerges, making it quite impossible to eat the flesh. The camel's meat is not edible either because of animals drink infected water ".
Ms. Fawzia Kidoum, an epidemiology specialist explains that the unhealthy waters when mixed with drinking water, cause what is called " water-borne diseases", such as cholera and diarrhea. Furthermore, the expert warns against the consumption of vegetables grown in lands irrigated by these dirty waters because they can generate infections such as typhoid fever, in addition to the fact that the soil deteriorates and becomes unfit for farming. She also emphasizes the importance for children to avoid contact with these waters, which, according to World Health Organization's reports, they kill thousands of children every year.
The issue of dirty water overshadowed all the other problems the inhabitants of Taghermbayt used to they suffer from before. Their sole concern now is to get rid of this incurable disease that is about to take away their lives. Despite all the emergency calls they launched to the relevant authorities, they still have not received any tangible answer, with the exception of eternal promises that have never been held. By then, the village inhabitants may well change their target and will ask for social and health coverage to pay for the treatment of diseases that will have plagued their bodies because of the toxic materials carried by the poisoned waters engulfing the village.
