Takhar: People displaced due to encroachment seek government support

TALOQAN (Pajhwok): The residents of some illegally constructed houses on the sides of Shahrawan Canal in northern Takhar province have asked the government to provide them support for the construction of new shelter ahead of winter season.

Local officials, however, said that people should have not built houses on the bed of the canal.

Shah Mahmood, an employee in the Education Department, said: “Our houses have been destroyed by the authorities, I had made a shelter with 5,000 afs monthly salary, it is not summer for me to live under a tent, it is winter and I cannot find a house for rent, if I can find one, how can I pay rent with my monthly 5,000 afs salary.”

He alleged, officials started destroying their housed before making any announcement for evacuation, most public households and appliances destroyed.

Mohibullah, another resident of Zargari locality who also lost his house, said Before the government its clearing operation on the Shahrwan canal, it should have given the people the opportunity to evacuate their belongings, but now a section of the people suffered more, the government needs to pay attention to them and repay some of their losses..

He claimed people of both sides of the Canal built their houses on their wages and now that their house had destroyed government need to pay serious attention to them a head of the winter season.

While building these houses, people did not know the land belonged to the canal or is a state land, but now every family suffered losses from 500,000 to one million.

Mohammad, another local resident, said: “People had usurped the two sides of canal and constructed homes, now I am happy that they are told to leave, the move will also help improve cleanliness of the canal water.”

The people who had built houses on both sides of this canal had drawn their sewage pipes towards this canal, which had polluted the water.

He said it was necessary that the government should have given people the opportunity to empty their property and equipment, and the trees in this place should not be sold by the government because people need firewood in winter, it would have been better to give people the woods from the trees.

Local officials, however, said the clearance operation on the canal land was started one week ago and from the past one year, families were often issued warnings to evacuate the area because the clearance operation would soon start.

They said the move came due to public complaints. People had complained regarding the usurpation of canal land and air pollution.

Sibghatullah Qani, head of the Takhar River Zone Authority, said efforts were underway that the total six metres area on the sides of Shaharwan Canal would be constructed a road.

He said keeping in mind the problems of people in the provincial capital and two districts regarding drinking water the canal related areas would be retaken and this issue would be resolved.

Takhar Governor Obaidullah Aminzadah said no body has the right to usurp the canal bed. The decision is taken on the directives of the Ministry of Energy and Water that usurped canal bed should be recovered and cleaned up from pollution.

He asked local people to cooperate with the government.

The Shahrawan Canal begins from the Ahandara area in Taloqan and continued till the Khawaja Ghar district. In the past this canal had the capacity to supply 40 Cubic Metre water but due to pollution and usurpation its water supply capacity declined to 20 metre cubic.

In addition, thousands of hectares of land in the center and Khaja Ghar and Baharak districts of this province were irrigated, and thousands of families were using the water of this canal for drinking purpose, but due to the overflow of sewage from houses, the water had become polluted.