Acute Water Shortage in the Near Future

Excessive water consumption and emptying of underground water reserves in the capital has set alarm bells ringing. Some environmental experts fear there is no hope of improving the situation in Kabul because of the pressures of high population density and excessive water consumption. Results of a survey show that groundwater in Kabul has gone down to 40 metres, and there will be an acute shortage of drinking water in a few years. Many experts and institutions that are concerned with water issues have expressed similar fears. Should the population grow any further and people dig more wells for water, the crisis will only deepen. Moreover, groundwater has already lost its quality because there is no monitoring. Eng. Mohammad Azim Barat, director of water supply at DACAAR, said that everyone is seized with questions about how to solve the problem. Baser Azimi, spokesman for Ministry of Energy and Water, said that there are plans to tackle the problem in Kabul. Access to clean drinking water is one of the core challenges that Kabul residents face.