Badakhshan’s Baharak residents face drinking water shortage

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Some residents of Dobandi village in Baharak district of northeastern Badakhshan province say hundreds of families are facing a shortage of safe drinking water and they consume river’s water that cause several illnesses.

They urge the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and other organisations to help them find access to clean drinking water.

Maulvi Fazluddin, head of the general cluster in Dobandi village, told Pajhwok Afghan News that 1,600 families in the village lacked access to safe drinking water.

He added every family received four 10-liter jerry cans of water after every two days, which did not meet their need, and the authorities they approached for help were yet to pay much attention to their problem.

Another resident, Nematullah, said, "We don’t have safe drinking water; we use water from streams and rivers, which threatens our health, especially that of our children."

Habibullah, another resident, said they spent 450,000 afghanis from their pockets to purchase a water spring, but the government and aid agencies did not construct a pipeline from the spring to their homes, leaving them with inadequate access to water.

These residents are urging the Islamic Emirate and national and international organizations to pay attention to their need of safe drinking water.

Meanwhile, Engineer Zabiullah Amiri, head of information and culture department, acknowledged the difficulties residents of Dobandi village face in accessing safe drinking water.

He expressed hope that relevant authorities would work with national and international organizations to provide drinking and agricultural water to these needy residents.

sa/ma