Kabul at risk of becoming first modern city to run out of water, report warns

Afghan girls carry water cans on a wheelbarrow along a street in Kabul. More than two-thirds of households have incurred water-related debt. Photograph: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

Kabul could become the first modern city to completely run out of water, experts have warned.

Water levels within Kabul’s aquifers have dropped by up to 30 metres over the past decade owing to rapid urbanisation and climate breakdown, according to a report by the NGO Mercy Corps.