Four years left. It will be the "first modern city to completely run out of water"

According to expert evaluations quoted in the news, the population of Kabul, which was less than 1 million in 2001, has increased to 6 million today.

In addition to the returns that began after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the recent deportation of Afghans by Iran and Pakistan and internal migration from rural to urban areas accelerated population growth.

The rapid proliferation of multi-storey buildings in the city increases the pressure on limited resources.

Afghanistan Water and Environment Professionals Network researcher Necibullah Sadid stated that the current situation is not a temporary crisis and emphasized that the situation is a "water bankruptcy".

Sadid noted that an irreversible resource has been depleted.

United Nations University Water, Environment and Health Institute Faculty Member Prof. Mohd Faizee pointed out that the city was facing a humanitarian disaster and warned that there was limited time to take precautions.

The cutoff of international aid since the Taliban administration came to power in 2021 also limits steps towards the water crisis.

The Shahtut Dam project, which was planned to be built on the Kabul River and provide water to 2 million people, stopped because India withdrew its financial support and Pakistan opposed it on the grounds that its water supply would decrease.

The 124-mile pipeline project, which aims to carry water from the Panjshir River to Kabul, is still in the study phase.

Matiullah Abid, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy and Water of Afghanistan, said that they are working on building dams and drilling wells to feed groundwater, and that they have completed the Shah and Arus Dam, which will feed 20 thousand households in 2024, but such projects require time and resources.

Susanne Schmeier, from the Netherlands-based IHE Delft Water Education Institute, stated that the international community only watched the crisis rather than preventing it, while the public continued to suffer in silence.