Villagers near Taloqan consume contaminated water

TALOQAN (Pajhwok): Inhabitants of Turma Bai area and other villages near Taloqan, the capital of northern Takhar province, complain they lack access to clean drinking water and as a result face serious health problems.

Due to lack of potable water, the residents say they consume contaminated water and their children suffer from water-borne diseases such as diarrhea.

Mohammad Ismael, a resident of Turma Bai area, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “We have been lacking access to clean drinking since years, our children get diarrhea and suffer from dehydration too.”

He added most of the wells in their area had dried up and people had no option, but to use contaminated and unhealthy water.

Mohammad Tahir, another resident of Turma Bai area, said thousands of families lived in the area and most of them had no access to clean and healthy water.

He said: “The inhabitants of this area have long been lacking access to clean water, their children fall sick amid lack of transport facilities to take patients to Taloqan. The local health clinic lacks medicines, and the authorities have never thought about this issue, we want the government to find a solution.”

According to local residents, 20,000 families live in Turma Bai and its neighboring villages and most of them have no access to clean and healthy water.

Mohammad Rahim, a resident of Eshan Qishlaq village, said thousands of families in the area had no access to potable water and they had shared the issue with authorities several times, but they paid no attention.

He said local residents had to travel several kilometers to fetch water for themselves.

Mullah Azmat Noor Mohammad, the Rural Rehabilitation and Development director, admitted that most of Takhar people had no access to clean and potable water.

But he added efforts were being made to solve the problem with the help of other cooperative organizations.

He said some humanitarian organizations had promised to provide tankers of clean drinking to water to families, but the promise could not be fulfilled so far. However, he said effort were underway to solve the water issue.

aw/ma

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