For years, the people of this Tajik village have been collecting water from precipitation for all their needs. The authorities are aware of the problem, but cannot say when it will be resolved.
The water shortage problem in Lolazor village in Vakhsh district of southern Khatlon province has not been resolved for many years. Lolazor village is located in the piedmont area of Vakhsh district, 140 kilometres south of Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe. This village is part of the Mash’al rural community and is located between three districts of Khatlon province: Vakhsh, Kushoniyon, and Dangara.
Ten years ago, about 40 families lived in Lolazor; now there are 80, and the population is growing every year.
Villagers say that as the population grows, the water shortage problem becomes more acute; there is no water for drinking or agriculture.
Davlat Gaffurov, a 75-year-old man from the village, told CABAR.asia that they have not had clean water for drinking or washing for years. They collect rain and melt water and buy four tonnes of clean drinking water for 150 somoni (about $15).
Villagers collect water for drinking during the rainy and snowy seasons.
We collect water when it rains. It comes down from the roof through drains into special pits. We store it, it is enough until the middle of autumn. And when the water runs out, we buy it,’ said Gaffurov.
Another Lolazor villager, Anvar, said there was water in the village during Soviet times. It came here from the Vakhsh River through water pipes that were laid. But then the pipes became dilapidated and clogged, and no water flows through them.
When there is snow and rain, the villagers collect water in pits.
In a year when there is a lot of rain and snow, we fill the pits with water. We collect rain and meltwater that runs off the roofs and we use this water, drink it, cook with it, wash with it,’ said Anvar.
Davlatmoh, 67, another resident of Lolazor, described how they have to save water because it is almost unavailable here.
We save on everything, even washing our hands, faces and clothes. If there is no water, we have to buy it. How can you clean yourself properly with bought water? We wash ourselves very quickly, and we don’t wash our clothes very well. We collect melted snow and rainwater in pits, but it is not enough,’ says Davlatmoh.
Davlat Gaffurov said the harvest also depends on the amount of rainfall.
What kind of farming can we talk about if we don’t have water? Not only for drinking but also for agriculture. We have rainfed land (land without artificial irrigation), it depends on rain and snow; if the rains are good, we harvest, if there is a drought, there is no harvest,’ Gaffurov said.
Tojiddin Safarov of the Vakhsh district’s Mash’al Jamoat Department of Land Reclamation and Irrigation confirmed that several villages in the Vakhsh district have no water supply system. However, Safarov refused to provide statistics and could not say when people would get access to water.
The Khatlon province Water Supply Department also refused to provide such statistics.
Meanwhile, the Khatlon province Environmental Protection Department told us that water shortages are a problem in most districts.
A year ago, local media wrote about the problem of water shortages and waterless towns and districts in southern Tajikistan. The newspaper Farazh reported in 2022 that in the Khuroson district of the province alone, 85 per cent of the population had no access to clean drinking water. A representative of the Khuroson district administration confirmed to CABAR.asia that there is a shortage of drinking and irrigation water in the district.
Kamol Qurbonov, an environmental specialist in Khatlon province, says the number of villages suffering from water shortages or lack of water is significant. This is mainly due to broken or unusable water supply systems or pumps built during the Soviet era.
This problem exists in most regions. The solution is to involve international organisations that are working to help people,’ Qurbonov said.
Kamol Qurbonov also said that the water flowing in streams and ditches cannot be called clean drinking water because it is not filtered.
Even in towns and villages where there is water, we cannot say that people there have access to clean drinking water. Because there are still streams and canals that are in poor sanitary condition,’ Kamol Qurbonov said.