Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Managing Water Resource

Our world has been blessed with different resources that support us to live our lives with ease and comfort. Among these resources water is one of the most basic one. Enough water to drink and to use is really necessary for human beings to live alive and it is also important for animals as well. In fact, most of the life cycle on earth depends on water.
Though a large portion of earth is filled with water yet there are concerns that it would prove to be insufficient with the passage of time and the usage. And there is also another important fact which is really very much unfortunate; and the fact is that though there are large reservoirs of water on earth there is a considerable population in the world that does not have clean water to drink and enough water to use.
It would be impossible for human beings to live without water; therefore, they require to use it wisely and at the same time find out new ways of providing it to all human beings so that everyone can benefit from it in the best possible manner. They have to make sure that the economic and political systems must ensure providence of natural resources to all the human beings alike – unfortunately that is not the case in contemporary world of ours. The short-comings in our administrative system have made the basic requirements seem lesser and inadequate though it is yet to face a serious threat of inadequacy.
It would be better for the world that it must cogitate seriously about every possibility of a new political economy so as to enable the world to compensate for the water and other shortages for the poor countries will have to suffer to a considerable extent as a result of the shortage of basic requirements and sources of energy.
Unfortunately, Afghanistan is one of the same countries and it will have to face serious challenges in the times to come to provide clean drinking water to its people. Decades of war in Afghanistan has affected the country to a large extent. Different sectors have been influenced by this menace. The basic infra-structure has not been able to get proper attention and people are suffering because of basic needs, among which food and water are the most basic ones.
Even the capital Kabul has been suffering because of the lack of these basic requirements. Current studies show that underground water level would deplete considerably in Kabul till 2020 and the residents of the city would face serious challenges in this regard. Currently, the water available to the people is underground water, which the people get by digging wells. Almost every house has a well that supplies water for household use. Unfortunately, there is no record of how many wells are dug in the city and how much water is being used or wasted. Moreover, the efforts of the government to establish a central supply of water which they can manage or control is almost non-existent. Therefore, the people use as much water as they want from the wells that are dug at their homes, which will ultimately result in depletion of water reservoirs to a large extent. The other parts of the country are no better but there are no data available about them and many issues that they face remain unreported. It is important that those areas should also receive attention from the relevant authorities. It is also encouraging to find certain institutions and authorities feeling their responsibilities in this regard.  
It is imperative that such projects must be initiated in other parts, particularly, the remote parts of the country. And, along with such projects, a comprehensive strategy to preserve the waters in the country should also be designed and pursued. Without a long-term strategy, it would be difficult to guarantee clean drinking water for the coming generations.
The relevant ministry has already warned that ground water could become undrinkable over next three years if unplanned constructions continued, and the ministry had planned to initiate short and long term projects aimed at protecting the available ground water resources from contamination. The shortage of basic requirements itself is a sure problem, but there are many other problems that are directly linked with the hunger and deprivation that result from such shortages. Many diseases would erupt and many social evils will find their way in the society and will further deteriorate the country’s socio-political scenario.
It is really important that a decade of struggle for betterment in Afghanistan must not only end in peace and tranquility but also better living standard for the common Afghan people; and if that is not convenient, they must at least be provided the rudimentary requirements like clean drinking water, and the authorities need to promise that there would be serious efforts to provide all the people of Afghanistan with clean drinking water.