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KABUL (SW): Excessive and unregulated use of ground water in major urban centers across Afghanistan has increased the risks of diminishing of this valuable natural resource.
Syed Riaz Darmal, director for water supply and sanitation at the Ministry of Urban Development Affairs (MoUDA), told Salam Watandar their estimate suggests the capital Kabul would face acute shortage of ground water in the coming 25 years if the current rate of excessive and unregulated use continued. Darmal said the Ministry has a rule in place that bind individuals and companies extracting up to 5 cubic meters of ground water on regular basis to pay tax in return.
But, not many obey this law. In the capital Kabul alone, there are hundreds of car washing stations, public bathrooms, and industrial-scale wells that are extracting the ground water at an alarming rate.
According to the MoUDA official, the government is concerned about it, and has devised some plans to artificially re-charge the ground water. Acknowledging the fact that the current rate of ground water usage in Kabul is worrying, Darmal said the ground water in Kabul were available at a normal level of 6 meters in the 1970s, but that has now dropped to as low as 40 meters. He added there are fears that this level would further drop if the unwarranted exploitation is not stopped.
Kabul residents are already feeling the heat of this crisis. Mohammad Ismael is a resident of Ahmad Shah Baba Maina in Kabul’s eastern neighborhood. He said it is already quite difficult to access clean drinking water in this part of the city. Ismael wants the government to take notice of the situation, and impose fine or taxes on this abusing this natural resource.
Ahmad Shah is another Kabul resident who had a handle-pump to extract ground water until recently when it remained not possible to suck water with this way. Shah said he invested a large sum of his investment on a deep-ground drilling and electric motor for the extraction of ground water, but still availability of clean drinking water remains a worrying issue.
Analysts believe the government should play its part sooner than later to curb illegal extraction of ground water, and take measures for recharging the ground water.
Najib Fahem, a professor at the Kabul University, argued that rapid urbanization in Kabul has put an immense pressure on natural resources including water. He said there is an estimated 29 million cubic meter of water available underground in Kabul, but the daily demand is more than 30 million cubic meter. He feared the underground water would dry down if the current rate of its use continued.
Fahem added that this phenomenon would also lead to other disasters such as land-sliding. He suggested the government can recharge the ground water via Qargha Lake, Panjshir River and with dam in Maidan Wardak province. He also criticized the policy of allowing private sector dug deep wells for water supply systems, and the unregulated digging of deep wells in residential areas.
ENDS
