Homs, Nov. 5 (SANA) Work is underway to rehabilitate the water infrastructure of Palmyra Oasis in Homs Governorate, with the first phase focusing on restoring and clearing damaged irrigation canals to secure water supplies for around 200 hectares (2 square kilometers) of orchards. The wider project targets 400 hectares (4 square kilometers) across the oasis.
Ayman Shamma, Deputy Director of Water Resources in Homs Governorate, told SANA on Wednesday that the project seeks to restore the oasis, which sustained extensive damage under the ousted regime. He said the current phase includes rehabilitating wells L9 and L9A, the main water sources supplying the area.
Shamma said the project aims to revive the historic oasis, support agricultural production, improve farmers’ incomes and encourage them to return to their lands and settle there. The directorate is also implementing ongoing and planned projects to restore services to the area.
Canal rehabilitation and project timetable
Rabie Omair, Head of the Palmyra Irrigation Center, said the ongoing works include restoring and clearing irrigation canals extending up to three kilometers and pouring concrete in damaged sections, with an estimated volume of 180 cubic meters, in accordance with the project’s technical studies.
The first phase will serve around 200 hectares (2 square kilometers) of orchards. Work began in mid-October and is scheduled for completion within three months, Omair said, adding that implementation was proceeding according to the approved timetable without obstacles.
Damage to agricultural infrastructure
Farmer Khaled al-Jumaa said the oasis’s orchards and irrigation networks had sustained extensive damage under the ousted regime, including destroyed canals and irrigation channels, numerous filled-in wells and the destruction of the electricity network supplying the orchards.
He said restoring irrigation channels would enable farmers to resume watering their lands, particularly olive and palm groves. Securing water supplies was the main priority for reviving agricultural activity, he said, alongside providing production inputs, chemical fertilizers and treatments for palm trees and controlling the spread of wild eggplant weed.
One of the most prominent agricultural oases in the Syrian Badiya, Palmyra Oasis has served for decades as an important center of agricultural activity and a source of livelihood for numerous families in the city.
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