Will Kabul’s Notorious Muddy Streets Be Repaired in Yet another Decade?

The capital city of Afghanistan that’s accused of receiving the lion’s share of investments and foreign aid in the last ten years of non-stop reconstruction works still has many features that remind its citizens and tourists of the bitter years of factional fighting that rooted out the basic infrastructure that had taken decades of pain and hard work to build Kabul that was once famous for its pleasant weather and disciplined system. One such attractive feature remains to be the roads and streets of this city. A spill of shower is enough to decorate the muddy roads and streets to a post flood scene; while, a day of blistering sun decorates it to a windy desert with dust blowing at bullet’s speed and nearly making it impossible to see across the street.

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One fails to recognize the upper limit of the negligence that’s depicted by the product of these roads and streets in every season while exacerbating the situation is the unmanageably large number of vehicles. This reminds me of a chat with an Indian friend who mockingly had said, “The most common sight in India is a crowded market”. Now, same is here. The most common sight one can see is a traffic jam especially during rush hours in the morning when schools and offices open and in the evenings when they close. With the passage of every single day, tens of luxurious cars add to the number of vehicles on the road. This directly gives a sense that it means a pile of more problems if the government/municipality thinks of starting to rebuild the older roads or constructing new roads one day later.

Everyone has to go through the embarrassment every day. A heap of dust on a sunny day is what one wears. Similarly, a blot of mud is what one wears on foot and pants on a rainy day. Though no one is happy with the current scenario, no one is ready to commit time, energy and resources seriously in addressing this problem that gets more hectic with the passage of every single day. The roads and streets await reconstruction as the city gets expanded. People have already established what can be called the third Kabul city on the mountains surrounding the Kabul Valley. The other two Kabul’s being the Kabul of the poor and the Kabul of the rich. The question that has hacked everyone's mind is when this city and its roads will finally get repaired? Probably another decade is the safe answer for now as the Kabuli’s lead a life amidst hope and frustration with their struggle to maintain the pace of development in their city.