People happy with recent spell of rain, snowfall

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: The Afghan people, particularly farmers are happy with the recent rains and snowfall in the country. The farmers believe that more rains were needed in the country. It would reduce the threat of drought next year, they said.

Thousands of people had left their houses due to drought in various parts of the country last night. Hundreds of cattle also perished due to the drought.

About 40 centimeters of snowfall was recorded in Wardak province in the past one week. The quantity of snow was lower last year.

A farmer in Hassan Khen area in Syedabad district of Wardak, Rahmatullah told AIP that they were happy with the heavy snowfall this year. About 40 centimeters of snow was still present in the area, he said.

He hoped that the recent spell of rain and snowfall would save their crops from the threat of drought next year. A resident of Qara Bagh district in Ghazni, Habibur Rahman said the water level below the ground was quite lower in the province. The drought further affected the water resources, he added.

Talking to AIP, he said the recent spell of rain and snowfall would increase water reservoirs below the earth.

The water level had significantly gone down in Dehla dam in Kandahar province last night. However, now the water level is rising up due to the recent rains and snowfall. Similarly, water level had reduced to 30 meters in Kajaki dam in Helmand. However, now it rose up to about 60 meters. The highest capacity of the dam is 70 meters.

The recent spell of rains and snowfall created hopes among people in Laghman province. They believe that the rains and snowfall would free them of drought next year.

According to weather forecast department of Afghanistan, more rains are expected in the country in the next few weeks.

Floods in Herat diminished the threat of drought in Herat. It, however, caused casualties and losses in some parts of the province.

Badghis was the highest affected province with drought last year. However, now the threat is diminishing.

People in Faryab and Jawzjan are also happy with the rains and snowfall.

Deputy director of natural disasters management authority in Afghanistan Muhammad Aslam Siyas told AIP that more rains are expected in the country in the next two months. He said they had issued alert warning in some parts of the country.

Drought had affected many parts of the country last year, he said. However, rains and snowfall had eliminated the threat of drought this year. (AIP)