UNICEF funds potable water project for hundreds of rural Balkh families

BALKH -- After two decades of difficulties accessing drinking water, 314 families living in rural areas of Chamtal and Chahar Bolak districts of Balkh province now have access to potable water.

The Agency for Technical Co-operation and Development (ACTED) implemented the two potable water projects with funding from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Work on the two projects started in December and they were formally inaugurated on February 27, said Yar Mohammad Shabir, director of the Balkh Department of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.

In total they cost more than 11 million AFN ($123,000), he said.

"The first water supply network is 2,680 metres long and includes a 120-metre-deep well, a concrete water reservoir with the capacity of 23 cubic metres, 41 water taps, a steel water tank 10 metres tall, 20 solar panels and other equipment in the Shorabi village of Chamtal district," he said.

"The second network is 5,128 metres long, includes a concrete water reservoir of 12 metres with the capacity of 23 cubic metres, 70 water taps, a 150-metre-deep well and 36 solar panels, implemented in the Jangora village of Chahar Bolak district," he said.

The implementation of such projects is very effective in addressing the public's needs, Shabir said, calling on local residents to play their part in maintaining the water supply networks and using them properly.

"Residents of those areas were facing a shortage of potable water, but the implementation of these two projects has provided access to potable water for hundreds of families," said Noorullah Mohammad, governor of Chamtal district.

"As a second step, we are planning to address the needs of the public in terms of roads and medical clinics, and discussions have also been held with donors in this regard," he said.

"Fortunately, our people now have access to potable water, thanks to the project," he said.

A permanent solution

Residents of Shorabi and Jangora villages welcome the provision of potable water to their houses.

Nangialai Amiri, 36, who lives in the Shorabi village, said the residents of his village did not have access to potable water for the past two decades.

Residents had to use water from a river that passes through several villages, but the water level had dropped from droughts, he said.

"River water is not clean and caused stomach and kidney problems as well as diseases among children, but [residents] had no other option," he said.

"People in this village are poor and would not have been able to build a water supply system without the support of local and international agencies," he added.

Ali Akbar, 52, of Jangora village, said residents of his village and several other nearby villages used to obtain water from a distant well.

"Children and women faced many problems fetching water from the well using pushcarts or donkeys, or carrying water containers by hand in hot summers and cold winters," he said.

"We requested many times that officials build us a water supply network, but no one bothered to listen."

"Now, we are very happy that an aid agency came and addressed our problem permanently and we now have access to potable water," he said.

'Critical' assistance

Nooruddin Haidari, a pediatrician in Mazar-e-Sharif, welcomed the assistance provided by international aid agencies across Afghanistan, describing their work as "critical".

"Sadly, hundreds of [residents] suffer from different diseases every year due to the lack of clean drinking water," he said.

"Unfortunately, drinking unclean water leads to diarrhoea in children and stomach and kidney stone issues in adults."

International organisations have increased their activities in recent months to address inhabitants' problems, especially in rural areas, said Ali Ahmad Mohammadi, 38, a resident of Mazar-e-Sharif.

"We have seen with our own eyes in recent months that international organisations and aid agencies are busy working on various projects such as the provision of potable and irrigation water as well as the construction of canals and their retaining walls, roads, schools and medical clinics."

"We call on international organisations not to abandon the people of Afghanistan and Balkh," he said. "[They] cannot address all these challenges on their own."