Afghanistan's Water Woes

Afghanistan's Water Woes

By Dr Arvind Kumar

For over three decades, Afghanistan has been witnessing internecine battles, coupled with foreign intervention and is haunted by political instability. This has affected the ecological balance, particularly with regard to availability of drinking water. According to latest Human Development Report on Afghanistan, only 48 percent of Afghanistan's population has access to safe drinking water and only 37 percent use improved sanitation facilities - with serious health implications, especially for children, according to the UN Children's Fund.

While stating that some parts of the country are physically water scarce, most people lack access to safe water because of inadequate infrastructure and poor management rather than insufficient resources, the report further says: "During three decades of turmoil in Afghanistan, water supply infrastructure has been neglected or destroyed, while the relevant institutions responsible for management and service delivery have collapsed. Around 73 percent of the population relies on improvised and inadequate facilities to supply water, while water sources are becoming increasingly polluted and overexploited in places like Kabul."

Some 70 percent of the urban population in Afghanistan lives in unplanned areas or in illegal settlements, while 95 percent lack access to improved toilets. In Kabul 80 percent of the population live in unplanned settlements where poor sanitation and lack of access to safe drinking water are common. India and other countries engaged in the task of reconstruction in the war-ravaged Afghanistan should address this problem with the help of concerned UN agencies.

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