Hundreds with water-borne diseases visit Parwan hospital daily

Monitoring Desk

CHARIKAR: Around 21,000 people monthly visit the provincial civil hospital in central Parwan province for treatment of infectious diseases amid increasing complaints about contaminated water supply to residences in the provincial capital, Charikar.

People in Charikar due to lack of technology do not dig deep wells as the underground water level is too deep, therefore they consume water from a natural stream.

The Water Supply Department in Charikar supplies filtered water to 2,800 households and unfiltered water to another 1,200 consumers from a stream.

Residents of the city say water supplied by the Water Supply Department is not safe for drinking.

They say the water supply canal is sourced from Dahna-i-Gulbahar area of Jabus Saraj district and the canal ends in Bagram district of Parwan after passing through Charikar city.

Mohammad Nasim, a resident of the first police district of Charikar, told Pajhwok Afghan News that most of the city residents lacked access to safe drinking water.

He said water supplied by the canal was dirty because people used to throw any type of garbage into it.

“A large number of Charikar people use the canal water, which is polluted and is causing many diseases among the city residents,” he said.

He said his four-year-old son seriously fell ill after drinking polluted water last year and his treatment cost 15,000 afghanis.

“I took my son to hospital where doctors said my son is infected with a water-borne disease and they advised us not to use canal water,” he said.

Nasim said he no longer used the canal water and brought water from Gulghundi, an area four kilometers away from his house.

Mohammad Tahir, a resident of 11th police district of Charikar city, complained about water pollution and said even some people emptied their toilet waste into the canal.

He said he was infected with diarrhea as a result of drinking the polluted water this solar year. He said they now boiled water before use.

Residents of Charikar accuse the city municipality and the water supply department of giving no attention to the problem and say the polluted water is causing many diseases among people.

Abdul Qasim Sangin, Parwan Civil Hospital head, also said around 21,000 people suffering from infectious diseases visited the hospital on a monthly basis.

He said 21,000 patients, 35 percent of all patients, visited the hospital in a month and most of them were children.

“These diseases also resulted in fatalities”, he said, without giving any exact figures. “Unhealthy water is the source of infectious diseases and most of the areas in Charikar have no access to clean water.”

Mohammad Nazir Azimi, Parwan water supply department head, accused Charikar people and the municipality of being reckless in keeping the water clean and said water was passed from seven filters before it was distributed to consumers.

He said that setting up dustbins near the canal could help prevent water pollution. Azimi added that the water transfer project of Koklami valley would resolve the problem.

Once completed, the water would be supplied from Koklami area to Charikar which is clean and healthy. He said the project would be completed in the next seven months.

Meanwhile, Ghulam Faroq Mohammadi, cleanliness manager in Charikar municipality, confirmed that people threw garbage to the canal but said the municipality lacked resources and workers to deal with the problem.

He said the municipality had signed a contract with a private company, Barg-i-Sabz, for cleaning Charikar city and canal sides, but it did not help enough.

But Mohammad Naim, owner of the company, said their responsibility was colleting garbage from only 50 houses out of 300 living near the canal.