Residents of Hyesan, Yanggang Province, have been suffering from a water shortage, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK last Thursday that a growing number of families in Hyesan have recently been without running water. “Teenagers and the elderly are suffering from carrying water from the Yalu River or wells,” he said.
According to the source, the water outage began early last month when water pipes froze during a prolonged cold snap with temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius below zero.
As a result, people have to fetch water from the river or wells. With husbands working and wives going to market, children and the elderly have taken over the task of fetching water.
Hyesan’s very young and very old have suffered a number of injuries from slipping and falling while drawing water. In fact, in one neighborhood of the city, an elderly person and two teenagers were forced to wear plaster casts on their arms after slipping earlier this month.
“The path is so steep and slippery that it’s hard to walk unaided, and people pulling sleds with water jugs are having accidents,” the source said. “People hurt themselves even more because when they fall, they think of protecting the water jugs over their bodies because it is difficult to get another jug if it breaks.”
“The teenagers who were injured recently injured their arms by protecting the water jugs with their whole bodies when they fell,” the source said. “When children who should be playing are forced to fetch water and even hurt themselves by falling, their parents must be heartbroken.”
However, the local people’s committeeNorth Korean people's committees are akin to local governmen... More shows no sign of addressing the problem, infuriating locals.
“Young children and even the elderly are suffering from the water outage this cold winter, but the state isn’t even bothering to properly investigate the situation,” the source said. “Many locals are frustrated because they don’t know how long they will have to suffer and endure shortages of everything, including rice.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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