Believers on Naxos and Paros today resorted to litanies and prayers due to the ongoing drought, which threatens the islands’ economy and the lives of the inhabitants.
On Naxos, drought destroys potato crops as well as fodder. After the Metropolis of Syros, Mykonos, Tinos and Nisoni, the Sacred Metropolis of Paronaxia, with a circular, asked him to offer prayers in the parishes to solve the problem of water scarcity.
As reported by the local cooperative, after three years of water scarcity, the reduction in potato production reaches 70%.
“The drought threatens the entire industry, because the authorities have not made plans to deal with the problem, although it barely rained for three years“, according to naxospress.gr. Dimitris Kapounis, president of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Naxos.
The mayor of Naxos, Dimitris Lianos, in his statements to the French newspaper Le Monde, states that the four desalination units that have been operating since April were able to meet needs, especially during the tourist season, when 45 thousand visitors arrived on the island. .
But, this filtered water can only be transported close to the coast, due to the lack of pipelines to serve the entire island, and cannot be used by farmers, due to the high cost and the possible release of chemicals used in the desalination process.
“The cost of 1,000 liters of desalinated water is 2.50 euros, so we were forced to increase local taxes for residents“, declares the mayor to the French newspaper, which, however, generates dissatisfaction.