Kabul- On the slopes of the rugged mountains surrounding the Afghan capital Kabul And other cities like Mazar SharifAndHeartJalalabad and Kandahar, simple mud houses are spread by local hands, and lacks the lowest elements of modern life; There is no water, no electricity, nor paved roads, these residential gatherings that have become a haven for hundreds of thousands of Afghans, who were pushed by harsh economic conditions to abandon organized neighborhoods to a shelter cheaper over the mountain slopes, although the price is the daily risk of life.
The phenomenon of random construction, which has worsened remarkably over the past few years after a return Taliban movement To power in August 2021, it is not a result of today, but was found during the previous government, but it took more dangerous dimensions in light of the current economic crisis and isolation.
Despite the danger
In the Al -Jabali Al -Jabali neighborhood, east of Kabul, Muhammad Taher, a government employee, narrates his story to Al -Jazeera Net, saying: “I rented a house in the city center with $ 70 per month, which is an amount that exceeds my salary, so I had to buy a small plot of land at the foot of the mountain and build a mud house, there are no ways to reach it, and we carry the water on our backs daily.”
The story of Taher is not an exception, but a lifestyle of hundreds of thousands of Afghans who fled to the mountains to escape the high costs of living and low salaries.
In the 15th area of the city of Kabul, more than 39,000 random homes were built, many of which are located on the foothills of the mountains, especially the “Khawaja Baghra” mountain, where about 6 thousand homes were recorded, and the 13th region (Dasht Burchi) witnessed west of the capital, a large expansion of unplanned construction.
According to the statements of the president of this region, “about 70% of the city of Kabul was built unorganized,” which is a major challenge to providing basic services such as roads, water and electricity.
Continuous threats
As the Taliban took control of the ruling, the crisis was exacerbated due to the freezing of foreign assets of the Afghan Central Bank, the imposition of sanctions on members of the government, and the suspension of most international aid that was the backbone of the economy. Support stopped World Bank The donors are infrastructure projects and housing programs with paralysis, which increased the dependence of citizens for themselves by primitive means.
“The absence of a clear housing policy, the lack of modern maps of cities, and the deterioration of the financial capabilities of the government, allowed the spread of random construction without controls, and the problem did not start with the Taliban but was during the previous government, which failed to put radical solutions due to corruption and mismanagement.”
“The current crisis is more complicated by sanctions and the absence of international support,” Redai added.
The suffering of the residents of random neighborhoods is not limited to the lack of basic services, but rather extends to serious environmental threats; According to the statements of the municipality of Kabul, thousands of houses were built over the slopes of the mountains of the capital, which exposes its residents to the dangers, such as landslides and torrents, as rocks fall in the winter and threaten heavy rains in the summer by destroying fragile clay houses.
“Every winter we live in fear of the collapse of the mountain, there are no support walls or water drainage channels, and we rely on our simple capabilities to restore homes,” says Jalaluddin Taymour, a resident of a mountainous area in Jalalabad.
In the Baktika region, the 2022 earthquake revealed the fragility of these gatherings, killing more than a thousand people and wounding 1500 others, most of them residents of random mud houses.
Limited efforts
For its part, the Afghan authorities recognize the RAM, but the limited capabilities hinder any tangible progress.
A source in the Ministry of Urban Development told Al -Jazeera Net that the government is working on a comprehensive census of the random areas in Kabul and the major cities, to legalize its conditions and provide the minimum services such as water and sanitation.
For his part, a spokesman for the municipality of Kabul, Nima Allah Baraki, told Al -Jazeera Net that “the municipality is making its efforts to control violations and organize urban growth within the available capabilities”, as it was prevented during the past five months to build 34 random buildings, and construction work was stopped in 77 others, due to technical violations, and also supervised more than 1240 buildings across the capital.
Parkzi added that “the municipality has completed during the past three years an incision of 260 km of roads inside the cable, and seeks to expand these projects despite the financial challenges,” stressing that the “New Kabul” project is still under study within a comprehensive vision to address the housing and overcrowding crisis.
In an attempt to alleviate the suffering of the inhabitants of the mountainous areas, the Kabul municipality – in cooperation with international parties – started building stone stairs (drawers) to facilitate the arrival of citizens to the lower neighborhoods, and accomplished about 2,600 meters of these stairs in the first region, which relatively improved the movement of mobility.
Previously, there were internationally supported housing projects, but they did not reach the most needy groups, and today, the Afghan government is trying to cooperate with international organizations to provide technical and humanitarian support, but international sanctions and political pressures limit this.
Long -term solutions
Urban development experts propose long -term solutions that include setting clear and affordable housing policies and programs, and modernizing urban maps.
“The crisis cannot be resolved by legal prosecutions or homes, but rather with development strategies that take into account the social and economic reality,” Redai said.
For his part, economic analyst Ahmed Rashidi believes that “attracting international investments, such as agreements with China To extract oil or belt and road projects, it may provide financial resources to rebuild the infrastructure.
But the biggest challenge – according to Rashidi – continues to restore international confidence in the Taliban government, which faces criticism for human rights violations, especially against women.
The random construction crisis in Afghanistan remains a mirror that reflects deep economic, environmental and political challenges. On the foothills of the mountains, Afghans continue to build their clay homes despite the risks.
While the Afghan government is trying to take limited steps, and the efforts of the municipality of Kabul appear in the construction of roads and the construction of stairs, experts say that real solutions require comprehensive urban planning, international cooperation and political will to rebuild a collapsed economy and dilapidated infrastructure.