Parliament on Sunday summoned deputy ministers of Agriculture and Energy & Water as well as minister of Rural Rehabilitation & Development over the issue of drought which has already affected 20 provinces in the country.
The MPs said that drought has put lives of many people at risk and that the government has not taken effective measures to tackle the issue in the country.
“Drought has affected 20 provinces. People don’t have water and facing a major problem,” said MP Mohammad Hashim Mehdi. “People in Kabul were expecting the water dams like Shahtoot and Shah wa Arous to be constructed, but they are not built yet.”
“Unfortunately, the government plans don’t meet the demands of people. The ministries acted poorly in implementing the [water supply] projects. In villages, most of the aqueducts have been dried up, people don’t have access to drinking water and therefore, they have been displaced,” said MP Khalilullah Shahidzada.
The Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Khan Mohammad Takal said that 60 percent of water resources have been decreased in the country and that there is a need for a joint coordination to address the issue of drought in the country.
Meanwhile, Mujib Rahman Karimi, the Minister of Rural Rehabilitation & Development said that they have recently signed contracts of 17 projects and that most of them are water supply projects. He stressed that work is underway on 35 aqueduct projects.
“We are planning to build 250 aqueducts this year,” he said.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Hashmat Ghafoori said that they have allocated $10 million for addressing the issue of drought in the country and that distributed 20 thousands of tonnes of fodder to farmers in 15 provinces.
This comes as according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least two million people are at risk of severe food insecurity because of a drought in Afghanistan.
Source Ariana news
