Water supply project in Badakhshan brings potable water to hundreds of families

BADAKHSHAN -- With funding from the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC), the Afghan Women's Educational Centre (AWEC) this year has enabled access to potable water for hundreds of families in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province.

"Based on AWEC's 2022 plan, a number of wells and water supply systems have been built this year," said Mohammad Ishaq Haidar, who leads the programme.

Clean drinking water was determined as one of Badakhshan's critical needs, prompting the AWEC to dig dozens of wells and build water supply networks from springs to villages, Haidar added.

For example, AWEC engineers built a water supply system of 8,000 meters from a spring to Chokolach village, he said.

The digging of a well in Qushlaq village of Faizabad, the provincial capital, also addressed the water-related needs of nearly 200 families, he added.

Operations are planned based on the public's needs and in consultation with project donors, Haidar said.

A critical need

Recent droughts have created a critical shortage of clean drinking water, say residents of Badakhshan.

Mohammad Omar, a resident of Chokolach, said the village did not have access to clean drinking water for the last 20 years.

Residents had to drink from a river that flows through several villages, but its water levels have decreased due to drought.

"Water was one of our critical needs. All the villagers were concerned about the water shortage," he said.

"Water from the river was not clean. It made children sick and caused stomach and kidney problems," said Mohammad Shoaib, another village resident.

Cows and sheep drink from the river and they also lay down in the water, Shoaib added.

People in the village are poor and would not have been able to build the water supply network without the support of local and international organisations, he said.

Mohammad Ehsan, a resident of Kuhna Qoshloq, said residents of his village and several other surrounding villages used to fetch water from a well located some distance away.

"Children and women faced a lot of problems in hot summers and cold winters fetching water from [the well], using carts, donkeys or just carrying it," he said.

International assistance

"Unfortunately, hundreds of Badakhshan residents suffer from various diseases every year due to lack of clean drinking water," said Dr. Mohammad Javed, a Badakhshan-based pediatrician.

"The majority of rural residents in Badakhshan unfortunately do not have access to clean drinking water, and as a result, children suffer from diarrhea, and adults suffer from stomach and kidney stone problems," he said.

Javed expressed appreciation for the support provided by international organisations operating in different sectors in Afghanistan, whose work he considers critical.

"There was no potable water in these villages in the past, causing lots of problems for the residents of Kuhna Qoshloq, Layaba and Eisari villages -- some 200 families," said Pahlawan Rahmatullah, a resident of Kuhna Qoshloq.

Rahmatullah added that he reached out to AWEC, and the organisation accepted his request for help after engineers assessed the situation.

He also expressed his gratitude for AWEC and NAC for digging a well in his village.

"People in our village do not have proper income and live on subsistence farming."

"They do not have money to fund digging a well in their community or build water supply systems," he said.

"We call on international organisations not to leave Afghanistan and the people of Badakhshan alone. People cannot address these problems on their own," said Rahmatullah.