Drought threatens half of Bamyan’s Saighan population

BAMYAN CITY (Pajhwok): Hundreds of families have probably fled homes in Saighan district of central Bamyan province after water scarcity decimated their livelihoods, an official said Sunday, seeking the United Nations’ intervention.

Abdul Jalil Saighani, district villages’ affairs director, told Pajhwok Afghan News that some 6,000 families lived in the district and 3,830 of them were in difficulty facing an acute shortage of water.

He said hundreds of families had likely migrated to other places after bearing the effects of water shortages in their areas.

Saighani cited a National Disaster Management committee report that said the shortage of water in the district might force hundreds of families to leave their homes.

He said the water crisis caused by a dry spell had increased and farmers were no longer interested in cultivation.

Saighani said if the central government or the United Nations did not pay urgent attention to the issue, the situation could worsen.

Mohammad Mubin, a farmer in the district, said: “This year, we did not cultivate our land because the drought and the resulting lack of water persist.”

He said farmers feared their wheat and potato harvests would not the amount of seeds.  “Not much rain and snowfall happened this season in the district and we hardly find water for drinking”, he added.

Imran Khan Bayani, the district administrative chief, was also concerned about the water issue and said he had shared the issue with provincial officials.

Calling the water shortage a huge problem, Bayani said said 90 per cent of the Saigah district’s residents were associated with farming.

He said the water scarcity issue might affect crops in other nearby districts as well.

However, Abdul Rahman Ahmadi, the governor’s spokesman, said the drought issue was province-wide and that the provincial government alone could not address the matter, which he said needed broad plans

pk/ma