The water situation in the US city of Detroit has been described by the UN as “an affront to human rights”.
Around a third of the total population in the city, which declared bankruptcy last year, are faced with having their water supply cut off as they are unable to pay their bill, The Times reported.
“Sick people have been left without running water and working toilets. People recovering from surgery cannot wash and change bandages. Children cannot bathe and parents cannot cook,” said a report, submitted by activists to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water Sanitation.
UN experts say that many of the families are too poor to pay, and that disconnecting the supply would “constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other international human rights”.
According to The Times, leaked documents suggest that around half of the city’s population are behind on their water payments. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department started cutting off nearly 3,000 households a week, but the disconnections were halted after global criticism. The department is due to resume disconnections this week.