MAIMANA (Pajhwok): A number of residents of northern Faryab province are concerned about the digging of deep wells and the improper use of groundwater for irrigation.
They warned if the government did not stop the practice of digging deep wells and build storage dams, people would face a shortage of drinking water in a few years from now.
Resident complaints
Hamayun, a resident of Guzar-i-Torpukhta area in the 8th police district, told Pajhwok the digging of deep well and using their water for agricultural purposes had caused the drying of manual and semi-deep wells besides creating problems for the people.
Abdul Samad, a resident of the Khwaja Musa area of Pashtunkot district, said almost 90 percent of agricultural land owners and gardeners irrigated crops with deep well water, using solar power.
According to him, there are deep wells in every garden. From dawn to dusk, two to five-inch pumps are used to draw water from wells.
Gardeners
Haji Mohammad Naeem, a resident of Qaisar district who has a 10 acres garden of grapes, apples and peaches, irrigates the orchard with two deep wells, using solar power.
Door Mohammad, having five acres of farmland, admitted irrigating his crops with wells, using solar power.
Water expert Eng. Hayatullah Masoumi said without permission from the Supreme Water Council, which was set up during the government of Hamid Karzai, no one reserved the right to dig a deep well or use strategic water for irrigation.
Masoumi said: “The underground water is for drinking not cultivation.”
He said problems of farmers and gardeners could be realized in the area of water, but the Department of Agriculture and Irrigation was obliged to promote a new irrigation system inside farms instead of employing old and traditional methods.
He added the world used new drip and steam systems that irrigate at least one hectare of land with a few barrels of water. But Afghanistan is still using centuries-old systems.
Official view
Ghulam Farooq, irrigation development head at the Faryab Agriculture Department, said over 70 percent people in the province were associated with agriculture. Most of these people irrigated one to two acres of land with underground water.
He cited statistics showing that 10 percent of farmers in Maimana, Dawlatabad and Andkhoi districts irrigated their lands with deep wells, 70 percent in Pashtunkot, Almar, Qaisar, Sherin Tagab and Khwaja Sabzposh districts and over 50 percent in Balcharagh and Garziwan districts.
He warned people would face a severe drought in coming years if irrigation facilities were not constructed in Khesht Pul, Deh Andara and Almar.
Abdul Qudus Azizi, a water reservoir expert at the Sherin Tagab River Zone Department, acknowledged around 5,000 deep wells in Faryab were used for agricultural purposes.
He called the use of underground water for irrigation an illegal act, but growers were forced to exercise this option for survival.
The made clear the use of underground water would continue in Faryab until alternative facilities such as dams were not constructed.
There was also a need for evolving a mechanism for storing rainwater for agricultural purposes, he explained.
Sa/nh/mud
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