As the population grows and the weather turns warmer, several residents of Herat province are criticizing the shortage of garbage bins in many parts of the city. According to them, the lack of adequate bins has led some residents to dump their waste in drainage channels, ditches, and public spaces because they have no suitable place to dispose of it.
Residents say the municipality also fails to collect the garbage on time. As a result, with water stagnating in the drainage channels and waste rotting in the heat, a foul stench spreads across the city, and the number of mosquitoes rises, disrupting the daily lives and health of residents. Meanwhile, several environmental experts warn that poor waste management not only harms the city’s appearance and the environment but also pollutes the air, soil, and water, creating conditions for the spread of various diseases.
Khadija (pseudonym), a resident of Herat province, criticizes the shortage of garbage bins in many parts of the city. She says that despite the growing population and the expansion of Herat, many areas still lack adequate bins. This shortage has led some residents to dump their waste in drainage channels, ditches, and public spaces because they have no suitable place to dispose of it.
The Herat resident says: “This situation, particularly in the hot season, has caused the spread of foul odors, an increase in mosquitoes, flies, and other insects, environmental pollution, the blockage of drainage channels, and a greater risk of various diseases spreading, and it has created serious concerns for residents.”
The Herat resident also criticizes the lack of sufficient oversight of those who dump their waste in drainage channels, ditches, and public places. She adds: “Many residents believe that as long as violators are not dealt with firmly and legally, and as long as there is no effective monitoring of this issue, the problem will continue and the municipality’s efforts to clean up the city will not achieve the desired results.”
Rukhsar (pseudonym), another resident of Herat province, says that although garbage bins exist in some parts of the city, their number is not sufficient and the distances between them are too great. She says, “People are not willing to travel such long distances to throw away their garbage, so many of them dump their waste in the nearest drainage channels and ditches.” According to her, the municipality also fails to collect the garbage on time, and as the weather warms, the water stagnates in the channels and the waste rots, spreading a foul stench and increasing the number of mosquitoes. She says, “When you walk past these channels, the bad smell is truly unbearable.”
Rukhsar adds that families whose homes are located near the drainage channels suffer the most from this situation, as mosquitoes enter their homes and make life difficult for them. She says, “Our children cannot sleep from night until morning because of the mosquitoes. We even use medicine, but it has no effect. On top of this, the city’s population has grown, and many migrants have returned to Herat, yet urban and health services have not expanded to match this population growth.”
Fawad (a pseudonym) also criticizes the shortage of garbage bins across the city of Herat, saying that the number of bins in the province is not sufficient and the distances between them are too great. For this reason, some residents dump their waste in ditches and drainage channels rather than carrying it to the nearest bin.
The Herat resident says, “The shortage of garbage bins in Herat is truly worrying. As the weather warms, the problem becomes more noticeable. Because of the great distances between the bins, many people do not carry their waste to them and instead throw it into the drainage channels. Officials must pay serious attention to this issue and install more bins in different parts of the city so that people can easily reach them.”
Meanwhile, Sayed Mohammad Sulaimankhil, a climate change and environment expert, says that one of Afghanistan’s fundamental challenges is poor waste management. He says: “In most provinces of Afghanistan, waste management is considered only at the point of disposal or transfer, whereas management should begin at the source, that is, at the point where the waste is produced.”
Sulaimankhil warns that poor waste management not only disrupts the beauty of the environment but also pollutes the water, soil, and air, creating conditions for the spread of various diseases.
The climate change and environment expert adds: “It is essential that waste management be carried out at the source, and that every citizen accept responsibility for managing the waste they produce.”
This comes after several Kabul residents who live in areas farther from the city center recently complained about the absence of garbage bins in their neighborhoods. They said that not a single bin could be found even over long distances, and that this had caused people considerable difficulty. According to them, the absence of bins has led people to leave their waste along the streets, alleys, and ditches. They added that the accumulation of garbage along roads and alleys has also created significant health and environmental problems for people.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
کمبود زبالهدانی در هرات؛ آبروها به محل انباشت زباله تبدیل شدهاند
