Following an upsurge in falling into and becoming trapped in wells as well as deaths associated with wells throughout Afghanistan, the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior has issued a new directive ordering the covering of open and uncovered wells.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Interior Minister for the Taliban government, has once more ordered that water wells be covered and issued a warning that anyone discovered in charge of a well without a cover will be subject to legal punishment.
The Taliban official was cited by the Taliban Ministry of Interior on Saturday, the 24th of September, in a videotape that was released, ordering the Taliban district governors and provincial governors to instruct well owners to cover their wells.
The acting interior minister told anyone who is unable to cover their wells to contact the ministry so they may receive assistance, according to Abdul Nafi Takor, a spokesman for the Taliban government’s Ministry of Interior Affairs.
Following the death of a toddler who had fallen into a well in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan a few months prior, Sirajuddin Haqqani issued a similar directive.
The southern provinces have recently seen an increased number of tragic accidents of children collapsing in wells, despite this order.
In the Afghan provinces of Zabul, Kandahar, and Helmand in the south, among other provinces, people have fallen down wells, with children making up the majority of the fatalities.—Khaama New Agency
