Press - Articles
"The Sweet Smell of Sewage"
Kabul Weekly Newspaper
June, 22, 2005
Author: Mirwais Harooni
Finding houses for rent and people willing to rent them is nothing
unusual for Khaled, who runs Sameer Totahil Estate Agency in Wazir
Akbar Khan. But last week, he had a real problem. An American man
wanted him to find a house, but he wanted to see the septic tank
first. "We found him a great house," recalled Khaled, "but the tank
was nowhere to be found." Khaled and his men searched for days to
find the tank, but they failed. The American who had had a stinky
experience with the overfilled and small septic tank of his previous
house, was not convinced of the house's other qualities.
When Kabul City was established centuries ago the easiest way of
getting rid of sewage was in the open street. Canalization was never
a priority while building houses in Kabul, though houses had started
to have septic tanks in the 70's and 80's, but the wars halted the
progress. It had been tolerable for a long time, but some people are
seriously putting that in doubt.
"Soon more and more Kabulis won't have access to potable water and
will start leaving the city," fears Najeebullah Patan, the head of
the department of water and sanitation in the ministry of urban
development and housing. "The rapid growth in the city's population,
lack of proper sanitation, an increase in septic tanks and no
canalization means that the water in Kabul City will sooner or later
be too dangerous for human use," he said.
Currently only around 30 percent of Kabulis have access to piped
potable water provided by the Ministry Of Water And Power. The rest
of the population uses wells to quench their thirst, clean their
food and have baths. As the city gets increasingly polluted, fears
have doubled about the safety of Kabul City's underground water
supply. Concern about the situation has risen sharply since septic
tanks have started to be dug around the city, as it develops.
Engineer Mohin, director of the engineering department of the
Ministry Of Urban Development And Housing, believes that most septic
tanks in the city have been built without considering the
consequences. According to him, the ministry is trying to help
people dig proper septic tanks to get rid of their sewerage, but
more and more people are doing it on their own, meaning that
underground water sources may be severely polluted.
But Engineer Abdul Qadir Sofizada, a senior manager of GAUFF
Organization, thinks that even if the septic tanks are dug
professionally, they still cause damage. "If the water supply
network is not extended to all parts of the city," he said, "ten
years from now Kabulis may not be able to have access to clean
water."
Considered a little more advanced than the traditional methods,
septic tanks have already started to show their true colors in Kabul
City. "The septic tanks of this area have been built according to
the ministry's guidelines, but the water which comes out of the tank
goes directly to the canal which is close to the tank and pollutes
the whole area," said Hajji Mohmand Sayedwal, the representative of
the people of Shahrak-e-Police, a apartment building network in the
middle of the city. According to him, summers turn the canals into
massive breeding grounds for mosquitoes and houseflies. He accused
the municipality of doing nothing.The municipality on the other
hand gives its usual reply. According to officials there, lack of
funds, no real master plan for the city and unplanned housing has
tied their hands.
Currently, GAUFF Engineers Organization, a German-based NGO, with
financial help from the World Bank, is surveying the sewer system in
Kabul. The survey is scheduled to last for two months and a further
three months will be needed to develop a plan for canalizing the
city. But the project will cost millions of dollars which the
government and NGOs do not have. But even if the money is there,
Sofizada thinks it will be two decades before Kabul City builds a
proper system for getting rid of its sewage.
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