Parched Paphos drenched with rain

PAPHOS finally experienced steady, heavy rainfall yesterday, taking many by surprise as umbrellas came up for the first time in months.

The head of the Paphos Water Board, Kyriacos Spanos, confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that the rainfall would be very helpful in irrigating plants and gardens.

“In addition,” he added, “it will definitely help economise the small amounts of water used for this purpose.”

However, he underlined that for the rain to make any significant difference to the dire conditions in Paphos, there would need to be constant rain and snowfall in the coming winter months.

Spanos explained it was too soon to predict the outcome of the coming months, but stressed that all the dams in Cyprus were in a perilous position, with only three dams on the island holding any water.

The dams, which hold around 4 million cubic meters each, are Asprokremmos, Evretou and Kannaviou, are all in the Paphos district.

In the meantime, children in Paphos villages, such as Emba, made the most of the wet weather, splashing around in muddy puddles.

“It’s great,” exclaimed eight-year-old Natalia Pzemkoff. “I’m having such fun with my friends. Maybe we’ll be really lucky and have snow in the winter, that would be even better,” she said.

“I got soaked coming home from school,” giggled seven-year- old Maria Demetriou. “I couldn’t wait to ring my grandma in England. She’s been having a horrid summer with lots of rain, and I’m excited to tell her we’ve go rain too.”

“It’s about time we had some rain,” added 16-year-old Jessica Stylianou. “My friends and I are all very concerned about the lack of water in Cyprus, and hope the government will take measures so that water restrictions are lifted as soon as possible.

“For a country so close to the Middle East, it’s astounding that Cyprus didn’t have any water conservation plans in place. This terrible situation should never be allowed to happen again and in addition, desalination plants must be built,” she underlined.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.