80% Kandaharis facing acute water shortage

KANDAHAR (Pajhwok): Residents of the southern Kandahar province complained they were facing acute shortage of potable water.

Though pipelines for supply of clean drinking water had been laid to several localities in the city, residents claimed they did not get even a drop of water from the pipelines.

Mohammad Aslam, a local, told Pajhwok Afghan News five years back pipelines of clean drinking water were laid but they got the water for two months only then the supply stopped because of the reasons best known to the relevant authorities.

Out of compulsion, people had started digging wells inside their homes but the problem was that the level of water had gone deeper. They were digging inside the earth for 50 metres to find water, he added.

He went on to say if people were succeeded to dig wells inside their homes then again the absence of electricity was a problem and how they would pull water out from the deep wells.

He said locals paid 300 afghanis per tanker of water being brought from other districts.

Najeeb Ahmad, another resident of Kandahar, said though people had dug wells of their own in their houses but taste of the water was saline and could not be used.

“We used mineral water but it is too difficult to afford,” he added.

He vehemently demanded the provincial authority to ensure provision of pure and potable water to the residents of Kandahar.

Waters were being provided from Dehli dam to the fields for irrigation purposes but authority was planning to supply drinking water from the dam to the entire population of Kandahar.

Javed Faisal, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News provincial authorities had held series of meetings with several relevant organizations to help them to resolve the water scarcity issue.

He assured all resources would be utilized to ensure provision of clean drinking water to the residents in the near future.

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