Some Balkh’s Charkint district residents sans access to drinking water

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Some residents of Tarlai area in the Charkint district of northern Balkh province have complained about access to clean drinking water and asked the government to address their problems.

Relevant government officials acknowledged the issue and stress resolution.

Mohammad Ayoub, a resident, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the inhabitants have to walk a few kilometers to bring drinking water to their houses.

Ayoub said: “We have a lot of problems, as our children go and fetch water from the river, they lose the chance to attend the schools, we want the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to dig water-wells in the area and build water facilities for us.”

Hasibullah, another resident said, around 300 families lived in the Taralai area, none of the families have access to clean water.

This is a big challenge for the people, we need the help of the government and other humanitarian organizations to solve the issue, he said.

Sher Mohammad, a tribal leader of Charkint also admitted that most of the people in that district had no access to clean water, they used ponds or irrigation-channels water for their daily uses.

Such water is not only unhealthy for the people but very hard to get during the droughts or winter snowy times, he said.

Additional to the clean water issue, a number of the residents in Charkint have also complained about having no access to health services and schools due to the damaged roads.

Deputy Governor of Balkh Noorul Hadi Abo Idrees has also confirmed the problem but insisted that it would be addressed.

Abo Idrees said: “The government has been paying more attention to remote areas of the country, more check dams, linking roads, water supply facilities and schools had been built during the past three years, the official still try to address the remaining problems as well.”

Additional to the residents of Charkint, the inhabitants of some districts in Balkh also complain about the shortages of clean water, they ask from the government to solve their problems.

Aw/nh