Record temperatures and prolonged drought in Greece have revealed a sunken village in Athens' main dam after 30 years, AFP reported.
The village of Kalio was submerged at the end of the 70s of the 20th century, when the Mornos dam was built 200 km south of the capital. The artificial lake is filled by the rivers Mornos and Evinos.
With river levels dropping by up to 30% in recent months, the ruins of the school and houses have been uncovered.
"The level of the Mornos river has dropped by 40m. You can see the first floor that remains of my father-in-law's two-story house... and next to it you can see what is left of my cousin's house," said Giorgos Iosifidis, a 60-year-old pensioner. As a young man, he had to leave his home with the rest of the villagers when the area was flooded.
The drought has worsened this year in the Mediterranean country, which is used to summer heatwaves.
According to preliminary meteorological data of the national observatory, after the mildest winter in history, Greece registered its hottest July.
Nearly 80 houses in Kallio in addition to the school and church were "sacrificed" to provide water for Athens.
This is the second time Kalio has been exposed since another drought in the early 1990s.
"If it doesn't rain soon, the level will drop further and the problem will be bigger than it was then," said Kallio village mayor Apostolis Gerodimos.
Anastasis Papageorgiou, a 26-year-old doctor who lives in Amygdalia, a village near Mornos, explained that there has been very little rain and snow in the area for the past two years.
"The situation is difficult right now, so we have to be careful with the water," he pointed out.
Greek authorities urged the 3.7 million residents of Attica, the region around Athens and home to a third of Greece's population, not to waste water.
Greece uses 85% of its water for irrigation and needs to build more dams. | BGNES
