Khas Uruzgan public offices, residents consume river’s water

TIRINKOT (Pajhwok): Government offices in Khas Uruzgan district of central Uruzgan province daily bring water for consumption and other needs from the river, which is five kilometers away, the district chief said on Monday.

Khas Uruzgan was an insecure district during the past conflict. Due to the conflict, government buildings, public facilities and the bazaar were destroyed and services like water and electricity disrupted.

Maulvi Amin, the district chief, told Pajhwok government offices, including the district and police headquarters, lacked drinking water facilities and had to fetch water from a five-kilometer away river for consumption and other needs.

He said he had tasked a ranger vehicle and two Taliban members armed with buckets with bringing water from the river.

He said they had to serve drinking water to guests and other visitors from the province. He once sent men to bring water from the river at midnight because water could not be easily found nearby.

Amin said he had shared the issue of lack of drinking water with the provincial administration, but it remained unresolved and he lacked enough resources to resolve the issue.

He said the problem could be resolved if a deep well was drilled and a solar power system installed on it, urging aid agencies to build a water supply network in the district. He said shopkeepers in the district bazaar and residents all faced the same problem.

Khas Uruzgan municipality official Qari Naqibullah confirmed all residents of the district struggled with shortage of drinking water. He said due to drought, the underground water level had plummeted and the residents could not afford to dig deep wells.

He told Pajhwok that a deep water well existed in the district bazaar, but often remained out of use and could not satisfy the need of people.

Haji Fazali Hadi, a shopkeeper of the district bazaar, also said the problem of water shortage in the bazaar was serious. He said the central mosque was also without water and worshippers had to fetch water from the river for ablution, urging the government to resolve the issue.

Uruzgan Governor Maulvi Mohammad Ali Jan Ahmad told Pajhwok that efforts were being made to resolve the water scarcity issue in Khas Uruzgan district.

He said he had provided resources to the local authorities to drill a deep well in order to resolve the issue to some extent.

The governor said he had also requested aid agencies to help resolve the water shortage issue in the district, assuring that other services besides drinking water would also be provided to the people of Khas Uruzgan.

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