KABUL (SW) – Amid rampant extraction of ground water, environmentalists have warned the capital is likely to face a water crisis in the coming years.
In recent years, the lowering level of ground water has caused people to dig further deep and extract groundwater without permission.
Mohammad Kazem Homayoun, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency in Kabul, told Salam Watandar that if the drilling of deep wells in the capital is not managed, the negative impact on people's lives and the environment would be impossible to compensate in the short term.
Critics say that in recent years, the groundwater level has decreased due to the negligence of the government and the people.
A Kabul resident, Shams said people in his neighborhood were digging wells as deep as 200 meters causing concerns all around.
A number of residents warned if the government did not prevent the digging of deep wells, the city will face a severe shortage of drinking water in the near future.
A number of private firms busy in drilling deep wells said they obtained license from the Ministry of Commerce and they drill wells wherever the people want as per the people's demand. According to them, the rate of drilling deep wells ranges from 15 to 100 dollars per meter.
"About five years ago, the average wells were around 50 meters, but now the average size of wells has reached to 120 meters," said Haron, an owner of a drilling company.
Officials from the National Water Regulatory Authority said in this regard that the groundwater level varies from region to region, and has been going down by two to five meters per year. According to the NWRA, compared to the last 10 years, statistics show that in some areas, the water level has gone down by 5 meters and in some other areas, by up to 40 to 50 meters.
Waliullah Aqeli, head of groundwater resources at the NWRA, said that 100 million cubic meters of groundwater is extracted annually in Kabul. He added that about 30 to 35 per cent of Kabul residents are supplied with tap water by the government.
Aqeli said that in order to meet the water needs of the people, the NWRA has short-term, long-term and medium-term plans to prevent the indiscriminate extraction of water by private bottling companies, public baths, swimming pools and by deep well drilling companies.
According to him, only a few companies are allowed to dig deep wells, and the rest are operating illegally.
To find out the exact statistics of deep well drilling companies and bottled water companies, Salam Watandar referred to several government agencies, including the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Land Urban Development and the Kabul Municipality, to know who is responsible for distributing licenses and regulating the affairs of these companies. All of these public offices refrained from providing statistics.
According to a report published by the Etelaat Roz newspaper two years ago some 15 deep well drilling companies in Kabul are licensed and other companies are operating illegally.
ENDS
