Nimroz residents grumble lack of clean drinking water

ZARANJ (Pajhwok): The residents of southwestern Nimroz province have complained against the lack of clean drinking water despite their expectations from Kamal Khan Dam inaugurated early this year to address water shortage in the province.

They said due to the severity of the problem some people had been forced to leave their neighborhoods and settled in other areas.

According to a Pajhwok Afghan News report, former government officials said at the inauguration of the dam on March 25 that the reservoir will not only stop the flow of water into neighboring Iran but also irrigate thousands of hectares of land and create job opportunities.

Ghulam Sakhi, a resident of Kang district, said: “We, the residents of Kang district, are facing shortage of clean drinking water, our areas have not been cleared, and drought has dried up the wells.”

He said he and his family had moved to Zaranj because of the problem of drinking water, but there, too, drinking water should be bought.

Farid Ahmand, another resident of Zaranj, “Our hope was that the Kamal Khan dam would solve our problem of drinking water, especially the residents of Zaranj, but this problem still exists.”

According to him, the price of a jerry can of 20 liters of safe drinking water is 20 afghani, which is a major problem for some residents of the city who do not have a good economy.

“If the drinking water problem was not addressed, many people in the province will leave their homes,” said Farzad, another Zaranj resident.

Maulvi Ehsanullah, the head of the Nimroz water supply network, told Pajhwok: “The water supply department in Qala-i-Fatha has eight water wells, six of which were inactive in the previous system; currently, we have activated a well that has been destroyed for three years.”

According to him, all inactive water wells are under operation to eliminate their shortcomings and reactivate them.

Sa/nh

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