Kabul Water Crisis Deepens As Children Swap Classrooms For Queues

Kabul is facing a worsening water crisis as prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall push the Afghanistan capital towards severe shortages, aid groups said.

The crisis has triggered disease outbreaks, malnutrition and forced children out of school, highlighting the impact of climate change and decades of underinvestment in infrastructure.

Eight-year-old Noorullah and his brother Sanallah spend their days hauling yellow barrels of water on a cart instead of attending classes, Reuters witnessed. Their family's well dried up, forcing them to queue at public taps or buy costly tanker water.

Poor households now spend up to 30% of their income on water, while wealthier families dig deeper private wells.“Sometimes we wait three hours in line. When it's hot, we faint,” said Sanallah.

Experts warn Kabul's underground water may run dry by 2030. Even wells more than 120 metres deep have already dried, said researcher Najibullah Sediq in Germany.

The city's population has surged past nine million over two decades, but conflict destroyed much of its water system, leaving residents reliant on unsafe sources.

UN envoy Roza Otunbayeva told the Security Council Kabul risks becoming the first modern capital to run out of water“within a few years” if action is not taken.

MENAFN30092025000228011069ID1110127996