War-weary Afghans further tormented by severe water shortage

Severe drought and water shortage have added to the miseries of Afghans, who have already been drained by ongoing terrorist attacks, war, fighting and a deteriorating economy.
The pervasive drought has affected hundreds of thousands of people in 22 of the country’s 34 provinces.
Lying in a parched region with low rainfall and high temperatures, Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul is facing a severe water shortage. The government has warned there will be a scarcity of water over the next five years.
Prolonged drought and a soaring population are mostly behind the heavy groundwater drop in the capital city, where deadly explosions and suicide attacks are still oppressing the masses.
“In recent years, climate change, years of drought and a growing population have decreased groundwater in Afghanistan and caused concerns in Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and some other neighboring and regional countries as well,” Abdul Latif Muzafarkhil, technical chief of the state-owned Water Supply Directorate, told Xinhua recently.
Hard-hit Kabul residents have to fetch water from hand-operated pumps, often far from their homes. Some even have to drill their own wells between 50 to 60 meters deep, with the deepest ones descending more than 100 meters in the capital, where only 10 percent of the population has direct access to drinkable water.
“About 54 wells have been dug so far by the Water Supply Directorate across Kabul, although many of the shallow wells are running dry,” the official said.
On average, Kabul has been said by meteorologists to receive only 362 mm of rainfall annually, and some years this has dropped as low as 175 mm, such as in 2001.
According to the official and based on studies conducted in 2014, Kabul’s groundwater potential has been estimated at 44 million cubic meters each year, enough for only 2 million inhabitants, while the population has surpassed 5 million.
“This year, water shortage is a huge challenge for Kabul residents. Together with my younger brothers, I have to carry water home from a public tap over a long distance for our daily use,” Kabul resident Gul Rahman, 20, told Xinhua.
“The water shortage has also caused huge problems for children. They have to carry water from public taps to their homes on the mountainside daily. Carrying water takes a lot of energy and time for children and teenagers,” he said.
Water scarcity emanating from a lack of precipitation in late 2017 and early this year has also affected the lives of 500,000 children in Afghanistan, UNICEF warned in late April.
The impact on children could be devastating in 22 of the country’s 34 provinces. In 10 of the worst affected provinces across Afghanistan, where 20 to 30 percent of water sources are reportedly dry, 1 million people’s lives are threatened, according to UNICEF.
In addition, in many areas, according to Muzafarkhil, the water in the wells is impure, as the wells are dug near septic tanks. “We are not only facing water problems in quantity but also in quality, as some people dig septic tanks on the sidewalks which infect drinking water and cause health problems for consumers when the pipes rupture,” he said.
“Afghanistan faces the worst drought I’ve experienced in decades. I don’t know how to deal with the water scarcity. The government is failing to resolve the water problems for people as it is involved in fighting with militants and curbing terrorist attacks,” Kabul resident Hajji Rashed told Xinhua.
“The vast majority of the households on this hilltop remain unassisted. They are lacking access to safe drinking water. I urge the government to take serious measures to help the needy people by providing safe drinking water,” Rashed said.
Even though some water dams have been and are being constructed in some parts of the country, water scarcity is still a monumental challenge, as some of the projects are yet to be completed.
According to a US 2010 Geological Survey report and the Afghan government, Kabul will require six times more water as its population reaches 9 million by 2050.