Czechs provide water, hope to people in Logar

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan –  In the dry and inhospitable climate of Afghanistan, a kareez, an irrigation system that makes water accessible to remote locations, is one of few ways to provide people with water for personal use and irrigation. The Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team will assist Logar citizens in the restoration of these traditional irrigation systems. 

“If we didn’t have water, we would die,” said Haji Qaman Gul, a native of Chinarey village in Logar, where the Czech PRT will reconstruct a kareez to bring water to the village from the foot of the mountains. His words are simple, but accurate: water means everything here.

Nine out of 10 people in Logar province subsist on agriculture; therefore, a functional irrigation system is fundamental for local residents.

Thirty years of war has had a hard impact on the kareez systems, used for irrigation by Afghan farmers for centuries. According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 40 percent of irrigation systems were destroyed during the conflicts in Afghanistan. 
Water management is one of the top priorities of the Czech PRT. Restoration of the kareez will consist of weir and flood protection, wall construction and irrigation canal repairs.

“[The] kareez is, in its principle, [a] perfect water structure; therefore, it makes no sense to implement any modern water transport systems here. It is a system proved by centuries, and used to get water from inaccessible places to people and, by its simplicity and utility, suits local conditions perfectly,” said Radovan Chládek, civil engineer of the Czech PRT.

Almost half of the kareez in the area were destroyed by conflicts raging in Afghanistan. The men who previously took care of them died in war, or the kareez were destroyed by Russian soldiers because Mujahideen soldiers hid in ducts leading into the tunnel.

“Unstable ducts will be reinforced by steel concrete staves, [and] the kareez tunnel will be restored and cleaned up, and [the] water retention tank will be reconstructed,” Chladek said as he described the principle of kareez improvements.

In the Suleman Khel village in Khoshi District, only a few kilometers away from Chinarey, a similar reconstruction just ended.

Bearded men in turbans, children in torn and dirty clothes, young men with embroidered caps, and even a couple of women, veiled with colored headscarves and half hidden behind the wall, met at the stone reservoir to gather water from the kareez.

A few hundred meters behind their clay houses, known as qalats, toward the mountains that rise above Suleman Khelem there are at least four control ducts through which the kareez can be accessed.

“More water means that we can grow more fruits, vegetables and more grain. What we grew on the field until now was hardly enough for the family. But bigger harvest can be sold, and we can earn money,” explains Naqibullah Mudaqir, one of the farmers. “Now we can cultivate more soil,” he added while pointing to the bright green field that contrasts with the grey, infertile side of the landscape.

The Czech PRT consists of 10 civilian experts and 287 soldiers. It has been assisting people of Logar since March 2008. Its main areas of activity include support of education, health system, infrastructure, security, agriculture, irrigation and independent journalism, and its annual budget is $4.5 million.