KANDAHAR CITY (SW) – Residents in Kandahar complain that deep and semi-deep wells are drying up in many areas and people have to wait for hours at the water reservoirs for drinking water.
They say that in the past years, water was found within 20 meters of the ground, but now water is not found up to 50 meters. According to the people of Kandahar, the underground water level has decreased due to continuous droughts and digging of deep wells for the fields.
Gul Agha, a resident of Kandahar city, told Salam Watandar about this: “Our underground water has dried up so we had to lower the drilling even further, we couldn’t bring water from another place.”
Mohammad Sakhi, another resident of Kandahar city, said: “People drill a lot of boreholes, the water level has dropped, water appears at 55 meters and people drill boreholes up to 100 meters to get the necessary water. In the past, water up to 3 meters was found in the big wells, but in these four years, the water level has reached 13 meters. Check dams should be built and water should be saved.”
The situation in the districts around Kandahar city is even more tense and some residents have moved from one place to another due to the lack of water.
Mrs. Shaguna is a resident of Dand district. She says that due to the drought and the decrease in water level, she moved from “Mashore” village to “Karezak”, but according to her, the water there is also decreasing and there is not enough to wash clothes.
She added that her children walk for several kilometers in search of water, but not only the water they need is not enough, but the children are also getting sick.
Ghulam Sarwar, a resident of Karezak, Dand district, also says that his villagers have been facing a lack of water for the past four years, and the water wells are drying up one after another. He says that there is only one water well in the whole area.
Ghulam Sarwar added: “All the districts of Kandahar have been taken over by the the solar panels, every man drills and draws water. Now the water went down.”
The local officials of Kandahar also admit that this province is on the verge of facing a water famine.
Director of Kandahar water supply and canalization, Janan Agha Salam told Salam Watanadar that excessive water extraction by means of solar system has reduced the green areas and the increase in the number of people has lowered the water level. To prevent this problem, he has banned the digging of deep wells in urban areas.
On the other hand, Ihsanullah Ahmadzai, an expert in agricultural affairs, says that if the government builds more dams like “Delhi Dam” and manages rainwater, people will not be forced to draw water from the ground to irrigate.
ENDS
