Dukoh district residents complain shortage of drinking water

SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): Some residents of the Khawaja Dukoh district in northern Jawzjan province have complained against the shortage of clean drinking water and asked relevant officials to ensure the provision of drinking water for the residents of this district.

Situated 25-kilometres from Shiberghan, the provincial capital, Khawaja Dukoh district has 38 villages in which 50,000 people are living. The underground water of all areas in this district are not suitable for the drinking of human being, livestock and even not useful for irrigation.

A number of local residents blamed the past government for its negligence and said in the past two years the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ (IEA) government also did nothing to address the drinking water issue of the district.

Haji Abdul Hameed, a senior citizen of Khawaja Dukoh, told Pajhwok Afghan News water existed in the district could address their one to two percent problem.

He asked the IEA government to address the water shortage issue of the local residents.

Hayatullah Nabel, another local resident, said a water supply pipe was constructed for the residents during past government which supplied water once or two times in a week and it is not enough for the residents.

“We daily purchased water, 20 litres of water is available against 20 afs,” he said.

Abdul Majeed, the resident of Dukoh district said: “We don’t have drinking water in this district, the water is salty and not useful.”

He said during past years they were supplied with agriculture and drinking water from Sar-i-Pul River, but due to the drought the river water level decline and they had been deprived as well.

District Chief Mohammad Ismael Huzaifa, acknowledged the shortage of water issue for Jawzjan people.

He said the drinking water issue had been shared with the relevant officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Currently, the only hope of the people in terms of drinking and agricultural water is the Qush Tapa Canal, which passes through this district, otherwise all the people will migrate from this district.

It is pertinent to mention that Khawaja Dukoh district has no permanent water supply source, and in the months of winter and one or two months of spring, water is supplied to this district for farming and agriculture from the Sar-i-Pul River in the province.