Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Kabul, once bustling and vibrant, is now a city where six million people wake up wondering if they'll find water to drink. Half its boreholes are bone-dry—and the taps haven’t run in weeks.
After spending $550 to drill a 120-metre well, one Kabul family still can’t drink the water without boiling it for hours. They can’t afford a filter. This is what survival looks like.
Kids as young as nine are skipping school to fetch water in jerry cans. In Kabul today, childhood is traded for hydration—and education is drying up with the wells.
Up to 80% of Kabul’s groundwater is contaminated with sewage. Brushing your teeth, washing your face, drinking tea—it all comes with a risk of illness.
Raheela, a mother of four, relies on expensive water tankers just to cook. “If it doesn’t rain soon,” she says, “I don’t know how we’ll survive.”
Kabul’s water system depends on meltwater from the Hindu Kush. But climate change has robbed the mountains of snow—and the city of its lifeline.
The Taliban’s return to power didn’t just shake politics—it dried up aid. Of the $264 million needed for water access, only $8 million has come through.
Under Taliban rule, women can’t leave home alone—even to fetch water. One 22-year-old says the streets are too dangerous. “We are trapped,” she whispers.
Displaced once before, Raheela may have to flee again. “Where will we go from here?” she asks. For many in Kabul, the answer is terrifyingly unclear.