Some residents of the Shahrak, Bakawul, Jelogir, and Lashmak areas of Ghazni province are complaining about cement and gypsum factories operating amid residential neighborhoods. They say the smoke and particles produced by these factories are polluting the air in residential areas and creating health and daily-life problems for families living near them. They add that particles from the factories settle on rooftops, courtyards, and inside homes, and that the continuation of this situation has forced several families to leave their houses. According to them, most of these factories were built during the republic era by local strongmen affiliated with the Taliban, and their number and activity have increased since the Taliban took control.
These residents told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that most cement and gypsum factories use substandard fuels and that there is no effective oversight of their operations. They add that installing smoke-filtering equipment and regularly monitoring the factories’ operations could reduce air pollution levels, but according to them, the Taliban have so far taken no effective measures to reduce the pollution caused by these factories.
Shokrullah, a resident of the Lashmak area of Ghazni province, describes the growing activity of cement and gypsum factories in the area as worrying. He says the smoke and black particles produced by these factories have polluted the local air and settle on his rooftop, courtyard, and inside his home every day. He adds that the continued operation of these factories has created difficulties for his life and that of his family, but poverty and financial hardship have made it impossible for them to leave their home and relocate elsewhere.
This Ghazni resident said: “Our house is right next to a gypsum factory, and its smoke and foul smell come directly into our house and courtyard. Every day, black dust settles on the roof, the courtyard, and inside the house, and several times my children and I have gotten sick because of this situation and had to go to the doctor. We don’t have the money to buy a house elsewhere, and the factory doesn’t have a filtering device either. These factories should not be located in residential areas and should be built far from where people live. We ask officials to take serious action against the operation of these factories as soon as possible.”
Simagul, a resident of the Bakawul area of Ghazni province, says the operation of gypsum and cement factories near residential areas has increased air pollution and health problems among residents. She calls for preventing the factories from using substandard fuel materials and for relocating them outside residential areas. According to Simagul, children and the elderly are more vulnerable to the smoke and pollutants produced by these factories, and measures should be taken to reduce this pollution.
This Ghazni resident said: “Most of the smoke comes from bathhouses and small factories, and the air has become severely polluted. Our area used to have clean air, and people could breathe comfortably, but now the foul smell that spreads through the area gives us headaches. These factories should be shut down or moved away from residential areas as soon as possible; otherwise, the health of residents living nearby will suffer even more.”
Shafiq, a resident of the Jelogir area of Ghazni province, says the Taliban’s lack of oversight of gypsum and cement factory operations has allowed these factories to operate without observing environmental standards. He adds that the smoke and dust produced by these factories have polluted the area’s air and created health problems for residents. According to Shafiq, despite residents’ complaints, no effective action has been taken to reduce the pollution caused by these factories’ operations.
Shafiq said: “Most of these factories use substandard fuel materials, and their operations have created serious problems for people’s lives. In our area too, many factories were built by strongmen during the republic era, but no one paid attention to their activities. Now the smoke from these factories has severely polluted the air, and several times my family members and I have gotten sick due to air pollution and had to see a doctor.”
Meanwhile, a number of factory owners say they have installed smoke-filtering devices in their factories, but the lack of electricity has made it difficult to use these devices continuously. They add that a stable power supply could enable regular use of the filtering devices and reduce the smoke produced by the factories’ operations.
Qorban Ali, a factory owner in Ghazni province, says the lack of electricity has made it difficult to effectively use smoke-filtering devices in cement and gypsum factories. He adds that the absence of official industrial parks in Ghazni is also a major problem for the province’s manufacturers. Qorban Ali calls on the Taliban to establish and allocate industrial parks in order to provide manufacturers with access to electricity and other necessary facilities.
This factory owner said: “I own a cement and gypsum production factory located above the Bakawul high school. We have a smoke-filtering device at the factory, but our main problem is the lack of electricity. We use coal, and because there is no electricity, we cannot properly use the filtering device. There are no official industrial parks in Ghazni, and manufacturers face problems such as a lack of electricity and other facilities. We ask the government to designate and allocate industrial parks for manufacturers so that these problems can be resolved.”
These complaints about the expansion of gypsum and cement factories in residential areas of Ghazni come after the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) had previously warned that Afghanistan’s cities are facing a growing air pollution crisis. The agency had said that emissions from factories and vehicles, along with smoke from burning coal, wood, plastic, and other substandard fuels, are threatening people’s health.
The agency identified the use of clean energy, reducing industrial pollutant emissions, expanding public transportation, and increasing green spaces as solutions for reducing air pollution and protecting public health.
According to the Ghazni Department of Industry and Commerce, alongside the industrial factories, about 200 brick kilns and confectionery factories are also operating in the Now Abad, Qala-e-Shada, Bakawul, Shahrak Shahristan, Tawhid Abad, and Arzu areas.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
کارخانههای گچ و سمنت در مناطق رهایشی غزنی؛ باشندهگان از افزایش آلودهگی هوا شکایت دارند
