The Nicosia district is heading towards a water emergency, the president of the Nicosia District Local Government Organisation (DLGO) has warned parliament, with seven communities completely cut off from government water works and relying on boreholes that are slowly running dry.
Constantinos Yiorkadjis made the warning before the parliamentary Agriculture Committee, saying the existing supply system was operating at its limits and that urgent state intervention was needed to prevent a repeat of last August’s disruptions. The situation in the Lakatamia area — including Anthoupolis, Deftera, Anogyra and Ergates — he described as critical.
Water Development Department infrastructure can supply up to 12,000 cubic metres per day — a ceiling that summer consumption already reaches. Rapid housing development is making the problem worse: connections to the Glyfou reservoirs increased by 1,004 in just two years, with demand growing at an estimated 5–7% annually. “Any malfunction or emergency incident could blow the system apart,” Yiorkadjis warned.
In western Nicosia, communities including Kokkinotrimithia, Paliometocho, Mammari and Meniko are served by makeshift solutions — surface pipes and the reverse flow of old networks. Seven communities including Deneia, Akaki and Peristerona are entirely cut off from government water works, with boreholes their only source of supply — boreholes that the prolonged drought is slowly exhausting. Yiorkadjis called for the necessary works and pipelines to be completed within two years.
He also raised concerns about the resilience of desalination units. Despite their importance, he said, the system remains vulnerable to power cuts, technical faults, severe weather and rough seas.
The DLGO has already invested in a new reservoir with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres to boost Nicosia’s water autonomy, Yiorkadjis said, but made clear that transferring water to the reservoirs is the state’s responsibility. The goal is for all communities to be fully integrated into the DLGO by 2029, in line with the local government reform programme.
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