Syria.. Overcrowding in the popular bathrooms in Aleppo due to electricity cuts and lack of diesel

Muhammad Hariri is impatiently waiting for his turn to take a shower in a popular bath in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, after the almost permanent power cuts and lack of fuel prevented him from heating enough water for his family.

After hundreds of years ago, the popular baths were a popular custom in Syria, and were considered a social meeting place and a destination for tourists and residents wishing to entertain themselves and enjoy hot water and steam to the beat of traditional music, today they have become a refuge for many who lack warm water in their homes.

"We mainly rely on electricity to heat the water, but the electricity is cut off most of the time," Hariri, 31, told AFP.

The hot water was barely enough for his family of five.

After he used to go to the popular baths with his father and uncles for fun and to spend time, today he goes with his son to enjoy a hot bath without fearing that the water will be cut off.

"Here we take all our time in showering, as in eating, singing and dancing," says the man, who waited half an hour for his turn in the bathroom crowded with customers.

Hammam al-Qawas is one of more than fifty traditional hamams in the old city of Aleppo.

Most of them were damaged as a result of the violent battles that took place in the city before government forces completed their control at the end of 2016. Only ten bathrooms have resumed work, according to a count of AFP correspondents in the city.

Under a stone dome inside the bathroom, Ammar Radwan, 33, updates the list of appointments requested by people who want to visit the bathroom in the coming days.

The man who inherited the ancient bathroom, dating back to the fourteenth century, from his grandfather, told AFP, "We reopened the bathroom in 2017, after the battles in Aleppo ended, but we never expected to witness such a turnout."

Government-controlled areas have been witnessing long hours of rationing for years, and during the past months in some areas they have reached about twenty hours a day, due to the lack of fuel and gas needed to operate the generation plants.

The years of war drained the energy and electricity sectors, with the most prominent oil and gas fields out of Damascus’s control on the one hand, and generation plants and pipelines damaged in battles on the other.

The economic sanctions on Damascus also prevent the regular arrival of oil ships to Syria.

The bathrooms rely on heating water in a huge boiler by burning wood and diesel fuel, which provides warmth and steam around the clock.

Jalal El-Helou, 53, is a regular customer of Hammam El-Qawas.

The father of three children says, “I go to the bathroom at least once a month to clean myself well and rest.” On the other days, he manages his affairs with lukewarm or cold water in his home, which he has no choice but to heat on the available firewood due to the lack of diesel.

Like most of the popular baths, the courtyard of Hammam al-Qawas is in the middle of a marble fountain, and ornate arches surround the reception room, where customers change their clothes before moving to the middle room, where they enjoy a steam massage, before heading to the inner room to bathe finally in its hot water.

The noise in the bathroom grows with more and more visitors wearing wooden clogs and wrapping themselves in striped cotton towels.

After completing the warm bath, customers enjoy a cup of tea and sometimes dinner, to the tunes of Muwashahat and Al Qudoud Al Halabia.

He told AFP, "I took a shower last two weeks ago because the children are the priority. If there is some hot water left, my shower is quick and it doesn't satisfy me."

Mashaleh, a government employee and father of six children, is no longer able to provide the necessities for heating water in his home, as "the electricity is cut off most of the time, and the price of gas and firewood is high, in addition to the scarcity of fuel."

"In the past, the purpose of visiting the bathroom was for fun, but today it has become a necessity once or twice a month at least," added the man, who sat in front of the water fountain and smoked his water pipe.

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