Drought to Kill Afghanistan People Before War
In addition to the flowing of water to the neighboring countries and the lack of rehabilitation of traditional irrigation networks, drilling uncontrolled wells.
Although Afghanistan is a landlocked country, environmental experts say that Afghanistan has enough water, provided that this water is properly managed, stored and used.
Afghanistan has five water sources, having more than 650,000 square kilometers of land but still faces serious water shortages.
The official figures from the Ministry of Energy and Water show that about 75 billion cubic meters of water are annually produced in Afghanistan, but people can only use 25% of it. One of the main problems that posed water crisis in Afghanistan, is the flow of water from the country to neighboring countries, and the government has failed to control the water so far. It has not taken action on irrigation and its modern distribution to the dry parts of the country. The Ministry of Energy and Water and the Ministry of Agriculture – as two responsible bodies – both failed to distribute and curb the country’s water supply in the modernization of traditional water distribution networks, the construction of water bands and precise policy on the use of water, which is the national capital of this land. In addition to the flowing of water to the neighboring countries and the lack of rehabilitation of traditional irrigation networks, drilling uncontrolled wells in different parts of the country being used for both agriculture and home use, is another important issue.
These factors have caused the lack of drinking water in some parts of the country, even for people whose water is being generously flowing to other countries.
UNICEF announced on April that last dry winter season has affected 22 provinces of Afghanistan, threatening the lives of three million people in the current year. If such status continues, the drought will kill us before the war.
The silent death caused by water shortage is getting closer to us. It is necessary to inform the public about what the future is awaiting them. Unfortunately, the media outlets in Afghanistan is looking for warm political news.
The current crisis as it mentioned requires a comprehensive public awareness, so that people themselves pressure the government to prevent the disaster, otherwise, we will face the destiny of Somalia which 250,000 people lost their lives due to droughts and thousands more were forced to leave their homes.
Mahdi Sarbaz – (DID) press agency
Translated by Taher Mojab
