NELLI (Pajhwok): Tens of residents of the Nawa Jafar village in central Daikundi province complain the digging of deep water wells in nearby areas has left their wells dry.
Mohammad Hussain Mahdavi, an elder from Nawa Jafar village, told Pajhwok Afghan News around 500 families lived in the area. Each family pays 15,000 afs annually to further deepen their water wells due to recent drought.
He said their wells had gone dry because inhabitants of two villages — Qurban Jafari and Bostan Najafi — had dug deep wells, whose clean drinking water was sold to people and government entities.
On a daily basis, the elder added, they sold 18,000 litres of clean water through 30 tankers to people and government departments. As a result, wells that are not deep have gone dry.
Ali Asghar Qasami, another resident of Nawa Jafar village, confirmed drought had been lingering on over the past two years in Daikundi. People are reliant on well water, but they are also drying up.
Wells whose water is sold are up to 40 metres deep. He said they had complained to local authorities and had addressed a formal letter to the Water and Energy Department. However, no action has been taken so far.
But Qurban Najafi, the owner of a deep well, insisted it was their legal right to dig up such a well and sell water from it.
He said his well was 30 metres deep and in the past he used it for irrigation purposes. Now he has decided to sell its water.
“I don’t think that by stopping water supply from my well, the problem of drought would be resolved.”
Bostan Najafi, who also owns a deep well, said: “In the past, these people used solar panels to draw water from wells, a practice that affected the traditional water system called karez in the village. Now it is our turn to dig up deep wells.”
If the locals gave them assurances that they would stop the use of solar panels, Najafi promised he would stop selling water from his well.
Khudadad Samat, deputy head of Helmand River Zone, acknowledged receiving a complaint from local residents.
He said a delegation had been sent to the site, but they had not yet received any response from the individuals involved in selling water from deep wells.
nh/mud
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