The drought, heat wave and water shortage have worsened so much in Mexico that even the police blocked traffic on Wednesday in protest.
In recent months, residents of some Mexico City neighborhoods have formed human chains and blocked avenues with some frequency to demand water. In April, complaints about contaminated water sparked a crisis lasting several weeks in an area inhabited by upper-class people.
Police usually try to redirect traffic, but on Wednesday some police officers participated in a protest near the iconic Monument to Independence.
The police blocked six lanes of traffic, claiming that there was no water supply in their barracks for a week and that the bathrooms were unusable.
“We don’t have water for bathrooms,” said a policewoman who did not give her name for fear of reprisals, adding that conditions in the barracks were intolerable. “They make us sleep on the floor.”
The lack of water has exacerbated long-standing tensions between police officers and their supervisors over issues such as sexual harassment and unfair working conditions.
“In their chiefs’ offices, they do have water there, but they don’t let us go there,” added the policewoman. “They don’t provide solutions. Today they brought a pipe (tank truck) because obviously they saw that the media arrived.”
Amid record temperatures and a severe drought, many buildings in the capital have had to obtain water from tankers, but these are scarce and expensive.
High temperatures of at least 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) were expected in 85% of the country on Wednesday, and temperatures of at least 45°C (113°F) in a third of the country.
Nearly 40% of Mexico’s dams are below 20% of capacity, and another 40% are between 20% and 50%. The Mexican capital has been forced to reduce water supplies as the dams that feed the city are running dry. Some stores have run out of mineral water.
At the national level, authorities have had to transport water in tanker trucks for various uses, from hospitals to firefighters. Low levels in hydroelectric power plant dams have contributed to power outages in some parts of the country.
Consumers also resent the heat. On Monday, national convenience store chain OXXO — the nation’s largest — said ice purchases in some locations were limited to two or three bags per customer.
Meanwhile, the heat wave has been so severe that in Tabasco—a state bordering the Gulf of Mexico—howler monkeys are falling from trees, apparently due to heat stroke.
At least 138 of these specimens, known for their thunderous vocalizations, have been found dead in Tabasco since May 16, according to the Usumacinta Biodiversity Conservation group.
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