‘Serious problem': Afghan capital losing race against water shortages
Kabul faces a looming water crisis, driven by unruly and rapid urbanization, mismanagement over years of conflict, and climate change, meaning people like Bibi Jan are sometimes forced to choose between food and water.
'When my children have only tea for a few days, they say, 'You bought water and nothing for us',' the 45-year-old housewife told AFP, describing reusing her supplies for bathing, dishes and laundry.
Experts have long sounded the alarm over Kabul's water problems, which are worsening even as many international players have backed off big infrastructure projects and slashed funding to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021.
'There could be no ground water in Kabul by 2030' without urgent action, the UN children's agency UNICEF warned last year.
Other experts are more cautious, citing limited consistent and reliable data, but say the situation is clearly deteriorating.
A 2030 cliff is a 'worst-case scenario,' said water resources management expert Assem Mayar.
But even if slated development projects are completed in a few years, it 'doesn't mean the situation would become better than now,' Mayar said.
'As time goes on, the problems are only increasing,' he added, as population growth outstrips urban planning and climate change drives below-average precipitation.
The Taliban authorities have launched projects ranging from recycling water to building hundreds of small dams across the country, but larger interventions remain hampered by financing and technical capacity.
They remain unrecognized by any country since they ousted the Western-backed government and imposed their severe interpretation of Islamic law, with restrictions on women a major sticking point.
They have repeatedly called for non-governmental groups to reboot stalled projects on water and climate change, as Afghanistan faces 'some of the harshest effects' in the region, according to the United Nations.
The water and energy ministry wants to divert water from the Panjshir river to the capital, but needs $300 million to $400 million. A dam project near Kabul would ease pressures but was delayed after the Taliban takeover.
For now, Kabul's primary drinking water source is groundwater, as much as 80 percent of which is contaminated, according to a May report by Mercy Corps.
It is tapped by more than 100,000 unregulated wells across the city that are regularly deepened or run dry, the NGO said.
Groundwater can be recharged, but more is drawn each year than is replenished in Kabul, with an estimated annual 76-million-cubic-meter (20-billion-gallon) deficit, experts say.
'It's a very serious problem... Water is decreasing day by day in the city,' said Shafiullah Zahidi, who heads central Kabul operations for the state-owned water company UWASS.
Water systems designed decades ago serve just 20 percent of the city's population, which has exploded to around six million over the past 20 years, said Zahidi.
At one of Kabul's 15 pumping stations, maintenance manager Mohammad Ehsan said the seven-year-old well is already producing less water. Two others nearby sit dry.
'The places with shallower water levels are dried out now,' said 53-year-old Ehsan, who has worked in water management for two decades, as he stood over an old well.
It once produced water from a depth of 70 meters (230 feet), but a newer well had to be bored more than twice as deep to reach groundwater.
At one of the two large stations in the city, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently procured four new pumps where only one had been functioning.
'If that pump collapsed for any reason, that means stopping the service for 25,000 beneficiary households,' which now have uninterrupted water, said Baraa Afeh, ICRC's deputy water and habitat coordinator.
Everyone in Kabul 'should have 24-hour service,' said Zahidi, from the state water company.
But in reality, Bibi Jan and many other Kabulis are forced to lug water in heavy jugs from wells or buy it from tankers.
These suppliers charge at least twice as much as the state-owned utility, with potable water even more pricy in a country where 85 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.
Bibi Jan said she has to police her family's water use carefully.
'I tell them, 'I'm not a miser but use less water.' Because if the water runs out then what would we do?'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
The UN's highest court will decide Wednesday on the climate obligations of countries
The UN's highest court is handing down a historic opinion on climate change Wednesday–a decision that could set a legal benchmark for action around the globe to the climate crisis. After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice in 2023 for an advisory opinion–a non-binding but important basis for international obligations. A panel of 15 judges was tasked with answering two questions. First, what are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? Second, what are the legal consequences for governments when their acts or lack of action have significantly harmed the climate and environment? The stakes could not be higher. 'The survival of my people and so many others is on the line,' Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general of the island nation of Vanuatu, told the court during a week of hearings in December. In the decade up to 2023, sea levels have risen by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels. Vanuatu is one of a group of small states pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis, but it affects many more island nations in the South Pacific. 'The agreements being made at an international level between states are not moving fast enough,' Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's minister for climate change, told The Associated Press. Any decision by The Hague-based court would be non-binding advice and unable to directly force wealthy nations into action to help struggling countries. Yet, it would be more than just a powerful symbol since it could serve as the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits. 'What makes this case so important is that it addresses the past, present, and future of climate action. It's not just about future targets–it also tackles historical responsibility because we cannot solve the climate crisis without confronting its roots,' Joie Chowdhury, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, told AP. Activists could bring lawsuits against their own countries for failing to comply with the decision, and states could return to the International Court of Justice to hold each other to account. 'And whatever the judges say will be used as the basis for other legal instruments like investment agreements,' Chowdhury said. The United States and Russia, both of whom are major petroleum-producing states, are staunchly opposed to the court mandating emissions reductions. Simply having the court issue an opinion is the latest in a series of legal victories for the small island nations. Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change. In 2019, the Netherlands Supreme court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists when judges ruled that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens. ___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas at
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Arab News
MWL chief meets Afghan premier in Kabul
KABUL: Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League and chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars, was received by Afghan prime minister, Hassan Akhund, at the Jal Khana Palace in the presidential headquarters in Kabul. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed various topics of common interest, 'with emphasis on the importance of the role of Muslim scholars in addressing major issues through effective dialogue,' the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday. Al-Issa is on an official visit during which he will meet senior government leaders and scholars.
Arab News
13 hours ago
- Arab News
Arab food insecurity: A recipe for regional chaos
In the volatile landscape of the Arab world, food and water security have emerged as critical pillars of national stability, inextricably linked to escalating regional tensions and shifting geopolitics. As conflicts simmer from Syria to Yemen and external powers exploit divisions, the region's ability to feed and hydrate its populations faces unprecedented threats. Recent reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia paint a grim picture: hunger and malnutrition have surged to critical levels, affecting more than 69 million people in the Arab world as of 2024. This crisis, exacerbated by climate change, pandemics and wars, underscores the urgent need for Arab nations to forge cooperative strategies for self-sufficiency, lest they remain vulnerable to global supply disruptions and manipulative foreign influences. The Arab world's strategic environment is a powder keg of instability. Tensions in one corner barely cool before igniting elsewhere, as seen in the recent unrest in Sweida, Syria, where Israeli airstrikes ostensibly to protect the Druze minority violated Syrian sovereignty amid a perceived US green light. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry swiftly condemned these incursions, highlighting a broader pattern of Israeli provocations that exploit power vacuums and regional fractures. Such interventions not only destabilize borders but also amplify food and water insecurities, disrupting agricultural supply chains and displacing farmers. Geopolitical shifts further compound these challenges. The ongoing war in Ukraine has disrupted global grain exports, on which many Arab states heavily rely, while the Israeli assaults on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria, along with its exchanges with Iran, have ravaged local agriculture. In Gaza, where food insecurity affected 31 percent of the population pre-2023 escalation due to blockades and water restrictions, the situation has deteriorated into famine-like conditions, with more than 90 percent of residents facing acute shortages by mid-2025. Lebanon's recent conflicts have eroded purchasing power for 90 percent of its agricultural workforce, inflating food prices and crippling production. In Sudan, armed clashes have barred 40 percent of farmers from their lands, destroying infrastructure and spiking prices by more than 70 percent, leaving 25 million in severe hunger. Yemen's protracted war, punctuated by US-Israeli strikes, has demolished irrigation systems and hiked wheat prices by 40 percent, pushing 70 percent of its population into food insecurity, including 17 million in acute need. Libya and Syria fare no better, with conflict-induced displacements halting cultivation and inflating import dependencies. Water security, often the overlooked twin of food security, is equally imperiled. The Arab world, home to 5 percent of the global population but only 1 percent of renewable water resources, grapples with severe scarcity. Climate change has intensified droughts, reducing aquifer levels and river flows in the Euphrates, Tigris and Nile basins, which are vital for irrigation. Geopolitical tensions exacerbate this, including through upstream damming projects. One example is Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which threatens Egypt and Sudan's water shares, potentially slashing Nile flows by 25 percent and devastating agriculture. In Palestine, Israeli control over aquifers diverts 85 percent of West Bank water to settlements, leaving Palestinians with per capita access below WHO minimums. Syria and Iraq face similar upstream pressures from Turkiye, where dams on the Euphrates have cut flows by 40 percent, crippling downstream farming. These water wars not only undermine food production, as agriculture consumes 80 percent of regional water, but also fuel national security risks. Resource disputes could ignite broader conflicts. Amid these perils, Arab food self-sufficiency remains alarmingly low. The Arab Organization for Agricultural Development reported in 2024 that the region imports more than 50 percent of its basic needs, with grain self-sufficiency at just 38 percent, wheat at 35 percent, maize at 23 percent and rice at 48 percent (though Egypt achieves a surplus in rice). Edible oils stand at 34 percent, sugar at 41 percent, meat at 69 percent, legumes at 37 percent and dairy at 82 percent. This dependency exposes economies to volatile global markets, where prices have soared 20 percent to 30 percent since 2022 due to supply chain disruptions. Wars amplify the gap: in conflict zones, agricultural output has plummeted 30 percent to 50 percent, widening the food deficit and inflating import bills to $100 billion annually. National security is at stake, as food and water vulnerabilities invite external manipulation. In a geopolitically charged era, where superpowers vie for influence, resource scarcity becomes a weapon. The US-led West, often prioritizing strategic alliances over humanitarian concerns, has enabled sieges and blockades that starve populations. This is exemplified by the crisis in Gaza, where daily hunger deaths occur amid international complicity, backed by arms supplies from Washington. Hunger and malnutrition have surged to critical levels, affecting more than 69 million people in the Arab world as of 2024. Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed Yet, hope lies in Arab agency. Food and water security demand political stability through regional solidarity, not fragmentation. Experts advocate clear paths: fostering intra-Arab cooperation via joint ventures, like shared irrigation projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council or Nile Basin initiatives; exchanging expertise in desalination and drought-resistant crops; developing unified food policies under the Arab League; adopting climate-smart technologies, such as precision agriculture and genetically modified seeds tailored to arid climates; and building strategic reserves for emergencies, buffered against global shocks. Investment in research and development is crucial, boosting yields through hydroponics, vertical farming and wastewater recycling could close the water gap by 20 percent to 30 percent. The UAE's Masdar City and Saudi Arabia's NEOM exemplify the region's innovative approaches, blending renewable energy with sustainable agriculture. Reducing reliance on imports requires subsidizing local farmers, reforming subsidies that favor urban consumers and integrating water management into national security doctrines. In conclusion, the Arab world's future hinges on transforming anxiety into action. With geopolitical tensions showing no abatement, from Iranian-Saudi reconciliation being tested by proxy conflicts to US-China rivalries spilling into the Middle East, food and water security must be elevated as existential imperatives. By uniting in self-reliance, Arab nations can shield themselves from external predation, ensuring sovereignty and dignity for generations. The opportunity is ripe; the will must follow.
