(MENAFN – Pajhwok Afghan News) ZARANJ (Pajhwok): Residents of this capital city of southwestern Nimroz province say a $21.5 million water supply network has failed because 35 percent of the city inhabitants still lack access to clean drinking water.
They say former president Hamid Karzai ordered the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) in 2012 to execute Qala-i-Fath Water Supply Network project in Chahar Burjak district of Nimroz after people faced acute shortage of water there.
Despite spending millions of dollars on this project, still every third family in Zaranj city still do not have access to drinking water, according to local people.
Abdul Hamid, a resident of fourth police district of Zaranj, also said the water supply network project had failed as many people in the city still lacked access to clean water.
€œWe are facing an acute shortage of water, I and one of my friends bought a water pump to transfer water from one area to another, but it did not help and,€ he said.
Meanwhile, Gul Ahmad, a provincial council member, told Pajhwok that Qala-i-Fateh Water Supply Network was 45 kilometers away from Zaranj city and it did not provide enough water to people.
He said pumps of two among six deep wells that supplied water to Zaranj city were not working.
Eng.
Shah Wali, Nimroz Water Utility head, acknowledged the water network project had problems in the beginning because it had not been properly surveyed and designed.
He said poor management and shortage of personnel in the Water Utility caused the project to face problems.