AT
Kabul: Drought and a scarcity of water have become a new difficulty for ordinary Afghan people to contend with in these challenging economic times.
Hunger, poverty, unemployment, security, and a lack of access to adequate healthcare and education have already had a negative influence on people’s lives.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently announced that $479M is needed to provide safe water to 14 million people in Afghanistan and that in 2022, families’ need for drinking water has increased by 7%.
OCHA tweeted that Afghanistan has been severely affected by three consecutive droughts.
According to OCHA, the drought of 2022 has increased the number of households in need of drinking water by seven percent, and 12 percent of households are facing barriers to accessing clean water.
This organization added that “479 million dollars are needed to provide safe drinking water to 14 million people and prevent diseases.”
Due to plunging groundwater levels, several provinces of Afghanistan have been facing a critical issue of availability of potable water as a lack of drinking water has become a challenge for Kabul residents.
Notably, according to reports the excessive use of water has led to as big as a 50 percent drop in groundwater levels in Kabul since 2022.