Residents devise novel ways to beat the heat

Baghdad: When the power fails and there is no gas for the generator, Mohammad Azzawi has a plan to make it through the stifling summer nights.

He collects the fans from old computer hard drives and powers them with backup batteries.

Faced with their fifth summer without a regular supply of electricity, Baghdad residents have come up with some novel ways to cool off.

Decades of corruption, neglect and war have left Iraq's electricity grid on the verge of collapse. Iraq is only generating enough power to meet half the countrywide demand, and most Baghdad residents are down to an hour or two of electricity a day.

The shortfalls are the worst since Saddam Hussain was ousted in 2003, Electricity Ministry spokesman Aziz Shimari said.

Frustration

The unreliable electricity supply is a source of constant frustration to Iraqis, who cite it as one of the biggest failings of the US-led invasion. The constant blackouts become unbearable during the summer, when the mercury climbs to between 43 and 50 degrees Celcius.

Only the lucky few who live near essential services, such as hospitals and water treatment plants, receive nearly continuous power. The rest improvise.

Those who can afford it have generators. But with fuel in short supply and selling on the black market for about $4 (about Dh14) a gallon, many families can keep them switched on only a few hours a day.

In most neighbourhoods, residents can buy additional hours from a shared generator. Civil servant Qais Yaseen pays nearly $50 a month for five amperes from a shared generator, enough to power a refrigerator, lights and a few fans. Running an air conditioner takes at least twice that amount.

The service is a source of constant arguments. Tempers flare when the power does not kick in at the allotted time.

"Once a week, they would claim that their generator has broken down, and it takes a couple of days to fix it," Yaseen complained.

"They operate less hours than agreed and always raise the price [saying] diesel is expensive."

The most difficult time is at night, when a bedroom can feel like a sauna. Many families still sleep on their roofs, despite the roar of passing helicopters and the risk of stray bullets.

The helicopters fly so low that men in this rumour-prone city began instructing their wives and daughters to cover up in long sleeves and tracksuits for fear that the American pilots were peeking at their women.