PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2023) More than 100 communes across France have trouble accessing drinking water due to drought, French Minister for Ecological Transition Christophe Bechu said on Tuesday.
"We have passed the milestone of 100 communes lacking access to drinking water," Bechu told the France Inter broadcaster, adding that water cuts are caused by low groundwater levels.
Around 30,000 people are affected by the shortage, with municipalities "along the Mediterranean rim, from the valleys the Rhone and Saone rivers" among the hardest hit, the minister said.
Still the situation is less grave than last summer, when 700 communes were left without drinking water, Bechu noted.
France is facing water supply problems due to record heat and drought. After the sweltering summer months in 2022, France experienced a "record winter drought" in February 2023, national meteorological service Meteo France said. Bechu called on the French regions to introduce restrictions on the use of water starting in March to avoid an acute shortage in the summer.
July 2023 may become the hottest month in the world's history, according to the latest report by the EU's Copernicus earth observation program. New temperature records were recorded in Spain, Italy, France, China and the United States. In Greece, wildfires have been raging for over a week now, hitting the island of Rhodes the hardest. Meteorologists warn of high risks to health of people and livestock, drought and threats to crop.
