\nwater crisis<\/a> in Kabul.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s population has significantly increased from less than one million (10 lakh) in 2001 to nearly six million (60 lakh) today, as per Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Mercy Corps and Afghan water management experts told RFE\/RL that 100,000 unregulated borewells and hundreds of factories and greenhouses are also putting strain on the city\u2019s aquifers.<\/p>\n
\u201cKabul has some 400 hectares of greenhouses that consume about four million cubic meters of water annually,\u201d Najibullah Sadid, a water resources and climate change researcher based in Germany, told the news outlet. \u201cThere are also more than 500 beverage businesses operating in Kabul. Just one such company, Alokozay, the largest soft drink company in the city, uses about one million cubic meters of groundwater each year.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The report by Mercy Corps underlined widespread water contamination in Kabul. Up to 80 per cent of groundwater in the city is believed to be unsafe, with high levels of sewage, arsenic and salinity.<\/p>\n
The water shortage is a daily worry for residents of Kabul. Some households spend up to 30 per cent of their income on water, with more than two-thirds having incurred water-related debt.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfghanistan is facing a lot of problems, but this water scarcity is one of the hardest. Every household is facing difficulty, especially those with low income. Adequate, good quality well water just doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d Nazifa, a teacher living in the Khair Khana neighbourhood of Kabul, told The Guardian.<\/p>\n
Many parts of the city have run dry and residents rely on tankers for water. Some private companies are digging wells and extracting large amounts of public groundwater. Taking advantage of the crisis, they are then selling water to the residents at inflated rates.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy monthly salary is 21,000 Afghani (Rs 25,797.54) and I spend at least 5,000 Afghani (Rs 6,142) on water for our family of 10 people,\u201d a resident of the relatively affluent area of Taimani in northwestern Kabul, told RFE\/RL last month. \u201cWe use this water for tea, cooking, washing-up, laundry, and bathing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many families that can\u2019t afford to buy water, it\u2019s like having to choose between water and food,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Two decades of the US-led military intervention in Afghanistan are also believed to have worsened the crisis, as it forced more people to move to Kabul while governance in the rest of the country took a hit, as per the Al Jazeera report.<\/p>\n
The water crisis affects the poor more than the rich, who can afford to drill deeper boreholes. Poor children, who should spend their time on education, are instead searching for water.<\/p>\n
In this picture taken on April 27, 2025, Afghans carry water canisters on the outskirts of Kabul. File Photo\/AFP<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cEvery evening, even late at night, when I am returning home from work, I see young children with small cans in their hands looking for water \u2026 they look hopeless, navigating life collecting water for their homes rather than studying or learning,\u201d Abdulhadi Achakzai, director at the Environmental Protection Trainings and Development Organization (EPTDO), a Kabul-based climate protection NGO, said.<\/p>\n
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Kabul\u2019s water woes are further fuelled by climate change, as rains have reduced in recent years across Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three rivers \u2014 Kabul river, Paghman river and Logar river\u2014that replenish Kabul\u2019s groundwater rely heavily on snow and glacier meltwater from the Hindu Kush mountains,\u201d according to the Mercy Corps report. \u201cHowever, between October 2023 to January 2024, Afghanistan only received 45 to 60 per cent of the average precipitation during the peak winter season compared to previous years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can Kabul\u2019s water crisis be averted?<\/p>\n
Yes. Experts say it is not too late to alleviate Kabul\u2019s water crisis.<\/p>\n
International aid and water-related projects could help the Afghan capital in tackling the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis problem is not new. For over a decade, various proposals on how to tackle the problem have been presented to Afghan authorities, but it has never been a priority for them,\u201d Sadid was quoted as saying by RFE\/RL.<\/p>\n
The construction of the Shahtoot dam and reservoir, some 30 kilometres southwest of Kabul, and the Panjshir River pipeline could provide drinking water to millions of the city\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n
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