A Short History of Charikar’s Water Situation

Charikar is one of the ten districts in the Parwan Province, which is located about 60km north of Kabul. It is also the center of the province.

Around ten thousand families are living in the highlands of Charikar and its outskirts.  An open canal was created by the Chinese in this area 45 years ago, and it passes through the center of the city. About 95% of the population uses this water, although it is not clean at all. 

In this city, there is a large reservoir filtration system that was established 50 years ago by a Japanese technician. Water drawn from the canal passes through this system pushed by the water pump. The system has about 500 square meters capacity, and the filtered water is sent to a limited number of households.

In the North side of the city, there is an area called Gulghundi, which stores clean water in springs and canals that the local people dug 40 years ago. Maintained by the government and NGOs, the water has now become able to reach the city. Currently, clean water from two water sources has now become able to reach 5% of the city households.

Written by: Inayatullah "Hashimi"