Latest news with #MercyCorps
Indian Express
a day ago
- Climate
- Indian Express
This capital city could be the first in the world to run out of water. Here's why
Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is on the verge of a catastrophic water crisis, with the United Nations warning that nearly six million residents are at risk due to a sharp decline in water availability. The city's water shortage is attributed to years of population growth, poor management, and climate change, which have depleted groundwater levels and left almost half of Kabul's boreholes dry. In some parts of the city, families wake up each day unsure if they will have enough water to cook, bathe or even drink. Raheela, a 42-year-old mother of four, told CNN, 'We don't have access to drinking water at all. Water shortage is a huge problem affecting our daily life.' She and many others in Kabul rely on water tankers, which cost money they struggle to afford. 'We are deeply concerned. We hope for more rain, but if things get worse, I don't know how we'll survive,' she said. A report by Mercy Corps warns that Kabul is extracting 44 million cubic metres more groundwater each year than nature can refill. Experts say the city's water supply depends almost entirely on groundwater, which is no longer being replenished fast enough due to less snowfall and glacier melt from the Hindu Kush mountains. 'Kabul is facing not just a water issue,' said Marianna Von Zahn, who leads programmes for Mercy Corps in Afghanistan. 'It's a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a humanitarian emergency all in one.' Many boreholes have already dried up. Some families have spent months saving money to dig deep wells. Ahmad Yasin, 28, told CNN he and his brother spent six months saving 40,000 Afghanis (around $550) to dig a 120-metre well. But the water is not safe to drink. 'We boil it for a long time before drinking,' Yasin said. 'Since we spent all our money on the well, we cannot afford to buy a water filter.' Mercy Corps says up to 80 per cent of Kabul's groundwater is polluted due to sewage and waste. Residents report frequent sickness from using water, even for brushing their teeth. Sayed Hamed, a father of three, said his family often falls ill. 'We get sick due to contaminated water either by drinking at someone else's house, in a restaurant, or even at home,' he told CNN. Children are missing school to collect water. Hamed's two children, aged 13 and nine, sometimes skip class to queue for refills during the day. 'The hours that children should be spending in school, they are now basically spending on fetching water for their families,' Von Zahn said. Women face even greater challenges, as Taliban rules prevent them from leaving home without a male relative. A 22-year-old woman in Kabul told CNN, 'It is not easy for a woman to go out, especially under the current circumstances. They could be harassed or bothered on the way.' Political instability has made the crisis worse. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, international aid has declined. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump stopped US development aid to Afghanistan. According to Mercy Corps, only $8 million of the $264 million needed for water and sanitation had been delivered by early 2025. Raheela, who once found Kabul more affordable, said her family may have to leave. 'We won't have any other choice but to be displaced again,' she said. 'Where will we go from here? I don't know.'
NDTV
2 days ago
- Health
- NDTV
Half Of Kabul's Wells Are Dry, City Could Run Out Of Water In 5 Years
Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is facing a severe crisis that could see it become the first modern capital in the world to run out of water, according to a report by Mercy Corps. Years of over-extraction, rapid population growth, climate change, and mismanagement have pushed the city's groundwater reserves to critical levels. The city now extracts 44 million cubic metres more groundwater each year than is naturally replenished. Nearly half of Kabul's boreholes have already dried up. Experts warn that if current trends continue, the city could exhaust its groundwater supply entirely by 2030. Kabul, which had fewer than two million residents three decades ago, has seen its population swell since 2001. The demand for water has surged alongside, but groundwater, which the city relies on almost exclusively, is being extracted far faster than it can be naturally replenished. The crisis is not only a matter of water scarcity but also one of public health, and humanitarian concern. Up to 80 per cent of Kabul's groundwater is contaminated, leading to residents getting sick. "Diarrhea and vomiting are problems people experience all the time in the city," a 36-year-old government employee living in the Taimani district told CNN. He said his family often gets sick after drinking water from restaurants or brushing their teeth at home. Many families are forced to sacrifice food and other necessities to buy water or dig expensive wells, the same water that often remains unsafe to drink. Those unable to dig private wells rely on water tankers or travel long distances to collect water from mosques. "We don't have access to (drinking) water at all," said a 42-year-old mother of four. "Water shortage is a huge problem affecting our daily life." Women in particular face increased hardship. Under Taliban restrictions, they must be accompanied by a male guardian to go outside. Climate change is worsening the problem. Snowmelt from the Hindu Kush mountains, which used to recharge Kabul's aquifers, has significantly declined, replaced by unregulated flash floods from irregular rainfall. The situation has been worsened by political instability and a sharp decline in foreign aid following the Taliban's return to power in 2021. A freeze on US assistance, including USAID funding, has stalled critical water and sanitation projects. UNICEF earlier projected that Kabul could exhaust its groundwater supply by 2030 if current trends persist.
Egypt Independent
2 days ago
- General
- Egypt Independent
For the first time in modern history a capital city is on the verge of running dry
CNN — As the sun rises over Kabul's parched mountains, a family's daily struggle to find water – and to make it last – is about to begin. The sound of water tankers rumbling through Raheela's neighborhood in the Afghan capital prompts the 42-year-old mother of four to rush out to the street to fill her family's battered buckets and jerrycans. The family's supply is always running low, she says, and every liter is expensive, stretching nerves and their budgets to breaking point. 'We don't have access to (drinking) water at all,' Raheela, who goes by one name, told CNN. 'Water shortage is a huge problem affecting our daily life.' Kabul is inching toward catastrophe. It could soon become the first modern capital in the world to run completely dry according to a recent report by Mercy Corps, a non-government organization that warns the crisis could lead to economic collapse. Population growth, the climate crisis, and relentless over-extraction have depleted groundwater levels, experts say, and nearly half the city's boreholes have already gone dry. Raheela's family must pay for every drop of water, and watch how they use it carefully, sacrificing food and other essentials just to drink and bathe. 'We are deeply concerned,' she said. 'We hope for more rain, but if things get worse, I don't know how we'll survive,' she told CNN. It's an emergency that 'is not just a water issue,' warned Marianna Von Zahn, Mercy Corps' Afghanistan director of programs. 'It's a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a humanitarian emergency all in one.' An Afghan boy fills his potable water tanker from a pump on the outskirts of Kabul on April 27, 2025. Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images A potent mix Just three decades ago, Kabul's population was less than 2 million, but the toppling of the Taliban in 2001 led to an influx of migrants, lured by the promise of increased security and economic possibility. As its population grew, so did the demand for water. Kabul relies almost entirely on groundwater, replenished by snow and glacier melt from the nearby Hindu Kush mountains. But years of mismanagement and over-extraction have caused those levels to drop by up to 30 meters over the last decade, according to Mercy Corps. Kabul now extracts 44 million cubic meters more groundwater each year than nature can replenish, Mercy Corps said, a staggering imbalance that's steadily draining the city's reserves and its residents' finances. Some families, like Ahmad Yasin's, have dug deeper wells, searching for more water to fill their buckets. Yasin, 28, lives in a joint family of 10 in the city's north. For months, he has queued along with his brother for hours every day at the nearby mosque, which has access to a big well, to bring full buckets home for his children, parents, nieces, and nephews. 'That was holding us back from our work and was affecting our income,' he said. So they saved for six months, sacrificing food, to come up with 40,000 Afghanis ($550) to dig a well in their backyard. Yasin and his brother dug 120 meters before they could find any water – and while this water is free to use for all their basic needs, they can't drink it. 'It's not safe,' he said. 'Since we spent all our money on the well, we cannot afford to buy a water filter or purified water. Hence, we boil the well water for extended periods of time, let it cool and then drink it.' Up to 80% of Kabul's groundwater is contaminated, according to Mercy Corps, a consequence of widespread pit latrine use and industrial waste pollution. Diarrhea and vomiting are 'problems people experience all the time in the city,' said Sayed Hamed, 36, who lives with his wife, three children and two elderly parents in the northwestern Taimani district. 'We often get sick due to contaminated water either by drinking in someone else's house, in a restaurant, or even by brushing our teeth with the well water,' the government worker said. The crisis is further compounded by Kabul's vulnerability to climate change. 'We are getting more and more rain, but less and less snow,' said Najibullah Sadid, a water resource management researcher and member of the Afghan Water and Environment Professionals Network. 'That's impacting a city which has less infrastructure to regulate the flash floods… Snow was helping us, but now we have less, and that's harming us in terms of groundwater recharge.' If current trends continue, UNICEF predicts Kabul could run out of groundwater by 2030. Neighbors gather to fill their drums with drinking water in Azara neighborhood in Kabul on June 14, 2023. Rodrigo Abd/AP When water runs dry, many turn to tankers Those without the means to dig hundreds of meters for water are at the mercy of private companies or must rely on donations. Rustam Khan Taraki spends as much as 30% of his income on water, mostly buying from licensed tanker sellers. But for families who can't afford to spend this much, the only option is to walk often long distances to mosques, which can provide water. Dawn sees Hamed, the government worker, lining up for hours at a nearby well to fill two buckets for his family. During the day, two of his children – 13 and nine years old – line up for a refill, sometimes skipping school to carry heavy buckets up their steep hill in the scorching sun. The crisis is taking a toll on the children's future, said Von Zahn from Mercy Corps. 'The hours that children should be spending in school, they are now basically spending on fetching water for their families.' she said. 'These harmful coping strategies further deepen the cycle of poverty and vulnerability for women and children.' Women shoulder much of this crisis — forced to walk for hours across Kabul just to fetch what little water they can, risking their safety under the Taliban's oppressive rule which prohibits them from going outside without a mahram, or male guardian. 'It is not easy for a woman to go out, especially under the current circumstances where women need to have male company from her family to be able to go out,' a 22-year-old Kabul resident, who did not want to disclose her name for safety reasons, told CNN. 'There are numerous difficulties for every woman or girl to go out alone to get water. They could be harassed or bothered on the way,' she said. CNN has contacted the Taliban for a response. An Afghan boy sits atop a potable water tanker on a hillside in Kabul on April 27, 2025. Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images A dire future Beyond the climate crisis, population growth and mismanagement, Kabul's water crisis is compounded by deep political turmoil. The Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of US-led forces after nearly two decades of war, tipping the country to the brink of economic collapse as development and security assistance to the country froze. Since then, humanitarian aid – aimed at funding urgent needs through non-profit organizations and bypassing government control – filled some of the gap. But US President Donald Trump's decision earlier this year to halt foreign aid has further set back the country with crippling consequences. The freeze in US Agency for International Development (USAID) funds is 'one of the biggest impacts,' said Von Zahn from Mercy Corps. By early 2025, only about $8 million of the $264 million required for water and sanitation had been delivered. 'So what we're seeing is a dangerous mix: collapsing local systems, frozen funding, and growing regional friction — all while ordinary Afghans face a worsening crisis every day,' she said. That leaves the future of many living in Kabul in limbo. Years ago, when Raheela and her family moved to their current neighborhood, the rent was cheaper, the mosque had water and life was manageable, she said. Now, she doesn't know how much longer they can survive in the city. 'We won't have any other choice but to be displaced again,' she said, 'Where will we go from here? I don't know.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
For the first time in modern history a capital city is on the verge of running dry
As the sun rises over Kabul's parched mountains, a family's daily struggle to find water – and to make it last – is about to begin. The sound of water tankers rumbling through Raheela's neighborhood in the Afghan capital prompts the 42-year-old mother of four to rush out to the street to fill her family's battered buckets and jerrycans. The family's supply is always running low, she says, and every liter is expensive, stretching nerves and their budgets to breaking point. 'We don't have access to (drinking) water at all,' Raheela, who goes by one name, told CNN. 'Water shortage is a huge problem affecting our daily life.' Kabul is inching toward catastrophe. It could soon become the first modern capital in the world to run completely dry according to a recent report by Mercy Corps, a non-government organization that warns the crisis could lead to economic collapse. Population growth, the climate crisis, and relentless over-extraction have depleted groundwater levels, experts say, and nearly half the city's boreholes have already gone dry. Raheela's family must pay for every drop of water, and watch how they use it carefully, sacrificing food and other essentials just to drink and bathe. 'We are deeply concerned,' she said. 'We hope for more rain, but if things get worse, I don't know how we'll survive,' she told CNN. It's an emergency that 'is not just a water issue,' warned Marianna Von Zahn, Mercy Corps' Afghanistan director of programs. 'It's a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a humanitarian emergency all in one.' A potent mix Just three decades ago, Kabul's population was less than 2 million, but the toppling of the Taliban in 2001 led to an influx of migrants, lured by the promise of increased security and economic possibility. As its population grew, so did the demand for water. Kabul relies almost entirely on groundwater, replenished by snow and glacier melt from the nearby Hindu Kush mountains. But years of mismanagement and over-extraction have caused those levels to drop by up to 30 meters over the last decade, according to Mercy Corps. Kabul now extracts 44 million cubic meters more groundwater each year than nature can replenish, Mercy Corps said, a staggering imbalance that's steadily draining the city's reserves and its residents' finances. Some families, like Ahmad Yasin's, have dug deeper wells, searching for more water to fill their buckets. Yasin, 28, lives in a joint family of 10 in the city's north. For months, he has queued along with his brother for hours every day at the nearby mosque, which has access to a big well, to bring full buckets home for his children, parents, nieces, and nephews. 'That was holding us back from our work and was affecting our income,' he said. So they saved for six months, sacrificing food, to come up with 40,000 Afghanis ($550) to dig a well in their backyard. Yasin and his brother dug 120 meters before they could find any water – and while this water is free to use for all their basic needs, they can't drink it. 'It's not safe,' he said. 'Since we spent all our money on the well, we cannot afford to buy a water filter or purified water. Hence, we boil the well water for extended periods of time, let it cool and then drink it.' Up to 80% of Kabul's groundwater is contaminated, according to Mercy Corps, a consequence of widespread pit latrine use and industrial waste pollution. Diarrhea and vomiting are 'problems people experience all the time in the city,' said Sayed Hamed, 36, who lives with his wife, three children and two elderly parents in the northwestern Taimani district. 'We often get sick due to contaminated water either by drinking in someone else's house, in a restaurant, or even by brushing our teeth with the well water,' the government worker said. The crisis is further compounded by Kabul's vulnerability to climate change. 'We are getting more and more rain, but less and less snow,' said Najibullah Sadid, a water resource management researcher and member of the Afghan Water and Environment Professionals Network. 'That's impacting a city which has less infrastructure to regulate the flash floods… Snow was helping us, but now we have less, and that's harming us in terms of groundwater recharge.' If current trends continue, UNICEF predicts Kabul could run out of groundwater by 2030. When water runs dry, many turn to tankers Those without the means to dig hundreds of meters for water are at the mercy of private companies or must rely on donations. Rustam Khan Taraki spends as much as 30% of his income on water, mostly buying from licensed tanker sellers. But for families who can't afford to spend this much, the only option is to walk often long distances to mosques, which can provide water. Dawn sees Hamed, the government worker, lining up for hours at a nearby well to fill two buckets for his family. During the day, two of his children – 13 and nine years old – line up for a refill, sometimes skipping school to carry heavy buckets up their steep hill in the scorching sun. The crisis is taking a toll on the children's future, said Von Zahn from Mercy Corps. 'The hours that children should be spending in school, they are now basically spending on fetching water for their families.' she said. 'These harmful coping strategies further deepen the cycle of poverty and vulnerability for women and children.' Women shoulder much of this crisis — forced to walk for hours across Kabul just to fetch what little water they can, risking their safety under the Taliban's oppressive rule which prohibits them from going outside without a mahram, or male guardian. 'It is not easy for a woman to go out, especially under the current circumstances where women need to have male company from her family to be able to go out,' a 22-year-old Kabul resident, who did not want to disclose her name for safety reasons, told CNN. 'There are numerous difficulties for every woman or girl to go out alone to get water. They could be harassed or bothered on the way,' she said. CNN has contacted the Taliban for a response. A dire future Beyond the climate crisis, population growth and mismanagement, Kabul's water crisis is compounded by deep political turmoil. The Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of US-led forces after nearly two decades of war, tipping the country to the brink of economic collapse as development and security assistance to the country froze. Since then, humanitarian aid – aimed at funding urgent needs through non-profit organizations and bypassing government control – filled some of the gap. But US President Donald Trump's decision earlier this year to halt foreign aid has further set back the country with crippling consequences. The freeze in US Agency for International Development (USAID) funds is 'one of the biggest impacts,' said Von Zahn from Mercy Corps. By early 2025, only about $8 million of the $264 million required for water and sanitation had been delivered. 'So what we're seeing is a dangerous mix: collapsing local systems, frozen funding, and growing regional friction — all while ordinary Afghans face a worsening crisis every day,' she said. That leaves the future of many living in Kabul in limbo. Years ago, when Raheela and her family moved to their current neighborhood, the rent was cheaper, the mosque had water and life was manageable, she said. Now, she doesn't know how much longer they can survive in the city. 'We won't have any other choice but to be displaced again,' she said, 'Where will we go from here? I don't know.' Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
3 days ago
- General
- CNN
For the first time in modern history a capital city is on the verge of running dry
As the sun rises over Kabul's parched mountains, a family's daily struggle to find water – and to make it last – is about to begin. The sound of water tankers rumbling through Raheela's neighborhood in the Afghan capital prompts the 42-year-old mother of four to rush out to the street to fill her family's battered buckets and jerrycans. The family's supply is always running low, she says, and every liter is expensive, stretching nerves and their budgets to breaking point. 'We don't have access to (drinking) water at all,' Raheela, who goes by one name, told CNN. 'Water shortage is a huge problem affecting our daily life.' Kabul is inching toward catastrophe. It could soon become the first modern capital in the world to run completely dry according to a recent report by Mercy Corps, a non-government organization that warns the crisis could lead to economic collapse. Population growth, the climate crisis, and relentless over-extraction have depleted groundwater levels, experts say, and nearly half the city's boreholes have already gone dry. Raheela's family must pay for every drop of water, and watch how they use it carefully, sacrificing food and other essentials just to drink and bathe. 'We are deeply concerned,' she said. 'We hope for more rain, but if things get worse, I don't know how we'll survive,' she told CNN. It's an emergency that 'is not just a water issue,' warned Marianna Von Zahn, Mercy Corps' Afghanistan director of programs. 'It's a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a humanitarian emergency all in one.' Just three decades ago, Kabul's population was less than 2 million, but the toppling of the Taliban in 2001 led to an influx of migrants, lured by the promise of increased security and economic possibility. As its population grew, so did the demand for water. Kabul relies almost entirely on groundwater, replenished by snow and glacier melt from the nearby Hindu Kush mountains. But years of mismanagement and over-extraction have caused those levels to drop by up to 30 meters over the last decade, according to Mercy Corps. Kabul now extracts 44 million cubic meters more groundwater each year than nature can replenish, Mercy Corps said, a staggering imbalance that's steadily draining the city's reserves and its residents' finances. Some families, like Ahmad Yasin's, have dug deeper wells, searching for more water to fill their buckets. Yasin, 28, lives in a joint family of 10 in the city's north. For months, he has queued along with his brother for hours every day at the nearby mosque, which has access to a big well, to bring full buckets home for his children, parents, nieces, and nephews. 'That was holding us back from our work and was affecting our income,' he said. So they saved for six months, sacrificing food, to come up with 40,000 Afghanis ($550) to dig a well in their backyard. Yasin and his brother dug 120 meters before they could find any water – and while this water is free to use for all their basic needs, they can't drink it. 'It's not safe,' he said. 'Since we spent all our money on the well, we cannot afford to buy a water filter or purified water. Hence, we boil the well water for extended periods of time, let it cool and then drink it.' Up to 80% of Kabul's groundwater is contaminated, according to Mercy Corps, a consequence of widespread pit latrine use and industrial waste pollution. Diarrhea and vomiting are 'problems people experience all the time in the city,' said Sayed Hamed, 36, who lives with his wife, three children and two elderly parents in the northwestern Taimani district. 'We often get sick due to contaminated water either by drinking in someone else's house, in a restaurant, or even by brushing our teeth with the well water,' the government worker said. The crisis is further compounded by Kabul's vulnerability to climate change. 'We are getting more and more rain, but less and less snow,' said Najibullah Sadid, a water resource management researcher and member of the Afghan Water and Environment Professionals Network. 'That's impacting a city which has less infrastructure to regulate the flash floods… Snow was helping us, but now we have less, and that's harming us in terms of groundwater recharge.' If current trends continue, UNICEF predicts Kabul could run out of groundwater by 2030. Those without the means to dig hundreds of meters for water are at the mercy of private companies or must rely on donations. Rustam Khan Taraki spends as much as 30% of his income on water, mostly buying from licensed tanker sellers. But for families who can't afford to spend this much, the only option is to walk often long distances to mosques, which can provide water. Dawn sees Hamed, the government worker, lining up for hours at a nearby well to fill two buckets for his family. During the day, two of his children – 13 and nine years old – line up for a refill, sometimes skipping school to carry heavy buckets up their steep hill in the scorching sun. The crisis is taking a toll on the children's future, said Von Zahn from Mercy Corps. 'The hours that children should be spending in school, they are now basically spending on fetching water for their families.' she said. 'These harmful coping strategies further deepen the cycle of poverty and vulnerability for women and children.' Women shoulder much of this crisis — forced to walk for hours across Kabul just to fetch what little water they can, risking their safety under the Taliban's oppressive rule which prohibits them from going outside without a mahram, or male guardian. 'It is not easy for a woman to go out, especially under the current circumstances where women need to have male company from her family to be able to go out,' a 22-year-old Kabul resident, who did not want to disclose her name for safety reasons, told CNN. 'There are numerous difficulties for every woman or girl to go out alone to get water. They could be harassed or bothered on the way,' she said. CNN has contacted the Taliban for a response. Beyond the climate crisis, population growth and mismanagement, Kabul's water crisis is compounded by deep political turmoil. The Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of US-led forces after nearly two decades of war, tipping the country to the brink of economic collapse as development and security assistance to the country froze. Since then, humanitarian aid – aimed at funding urgent needs through non-profit organizations and bypassing government control – filled some of the gap. But US President Donald Trump's decision earlier this year to halt foreign aid has further set back the country with crippling consequences. The freeze in US Agency for International Development (USAID) funds is 'one of the biggest impacts,' said Von Zahn from Mercy Corps. By early 2025, only about $8 million of the $264 million required for water and sanitation had been delivered. 'So what we're seeing is a dangerous mix: collapsing local systems, frozen funding, and growing regional friction — all while ordinary Afghans face a worsening crisis every day,' she said. That leaves the future of many living in Kabul in limbo. Years ago, when Raheela and her family moved to their current neighborhood, the rent was cheaper, the mosque had water and life was manageable, she said. Now, she doesn't know how much longer they can survive in the city. 'We won't have any other choice but to be displaced again,' she said, 'Where will we go from here? I don't know.'
