A group of young people in Nangarhar Province has launched a public awareness campaign aimed at reducing drowning incidents in rivers. The campaign, carried out under the slogan “Heat won’t kill you, but the river will,” is being conducted in various parts of the province.
Habib Amiri, one of the campaign activists, told media outlets that the main goal of the initiative is to educate young people and children about the dangers of swimming in rivers and to prevent them from entering fast-flowing waters.
According to him, a group of volunteers is participating in the campaign, and they are stationed along riverbanks holding warning signs to discourage citizens from swimming in hazardous areas.
Amiri said the initiative was launched in response to a rising number of drowning cases involving young people and children in the rivers of Nangarhar. He added that with rising temperatures, numerous reports of drowning incidents have been recorded, causing widespread concern among residents.
He further emphasized that the sole purpose of the campaign is to prevent swimming in dangerous rivers and to raise public awareness about the consequences. Amiri noted that while many residents have welcomed the initiative, some have not agreed with it.
He also stated that the campaign is held annually at the beginning of the hot season and is organized in collaboration with several young volunteers. However, it is sometimes met with indifference, ridicule, or a tendency among some individuals to downplay the risks of drowning.
Members of the campaign are present along the banks of the Kabul River in the Kunar and Durrani areas, the Nangarhar Canal, and parts of Jalalabad city, urging young people to avoid jumping into the water or swimming in rivers.
They have also called on the authorities of the caretaker government to increase patrols and monitoring along riverbanks to prevent similar incidents.
Meanwhile, the Nangarhar Department of Information and Culture has reported that in the past month alone, 20 young people have lost their lives due to drowning while swimming in various parts of the province.
With rising temperatures, many young people and adolescents, due to the lack of proper swimming pools and recreational facilities, turn to fast-flowing rivers and water reservoirs for swimming and cooling off locations that authorities consider unsafe and high-risk.
Previously, the Department of Disaster Management had also reported that in the first two and a half months of the current solar year, 75 children and young people had died as a result of drowning. This figure indicates that, on average, one person has been killed per day in such incidents.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
