Khair Khana

1. Community demographics

According to key informant interviews conducted with local authority figures who used Habitat Office survey figures, there are approximately 1250 families and 7500 people living in Khair Khana in Kabul. While the majority of the neighbourhood identify as Tajiks, there are Pashtun, Hazara, Uzbek and Pashayee people living in the neighbourhood. Dari, Uzbek and Pashtun are all spoken by people in the area but Dari is the most popular.

While not able to readily ascertain estimated numbers, local authority figures noted that IDPs from Kunduz, Kapis, Parwan, Faryab and Takhar lived in the neighbourhood and were mainly displaced by insecurity. The number of IDPs is increasing over time. Approximately 5000 people are returnees, an estimated half from Iran and the other half from Pakistan. Many own their houses but some returnees rent. This population of returnees and the broader community are expected to stay in Khair Khana, apart from people currently renting who may move in the coming years.

2. Community geography

The neighbourhood of Khair Kana is located south of Maranjan Hill in Kabul and to the east of Kabul–Parwan Road. One part of the neighbourhood follows a City Master Plan but the other part of Khair Khana does not. There are wider streets in the master planned area but small laneways in the informal section of the neighbourhood. Most of the houses are made of brick or concrete and are two- or three-storeyed. The largest non-residential buildings are the Arab Darul Olom (religious education institute), schools, clinics, hospitals, mosques, the electricity junction and a condolence ceremony hall for women (1). There is piped water available, while a very limited number of people (an estimated 2-3%) have dug deep potable water wells.

(1) The exact function of the condolence ceremony hall for women is being followed up on.

3. Economic Profile

Private schools, the private hospital and a water supply company were said to be the only employers that have more than 10 employees. Many members of the community work as construction labourers during the summer months but experience unemployment in the winter months. A very limited number of women do tailoring work at home.

4. Energy profile

Local authority figures estimate approximately 90% of the community have access to grid electricity, with the remainder being too poor to be connected or outside of the DABS provision of service area.

The electrical grid experiences regular outages and local authority figures complained about the high cost in winter, as well as the cost differential between reported meter installation (1250 Afs) and what is actually paid (7500 Afs).

Some families purchase generators or solar systems for use during grid outages. Most people use LPG for cooking while many members of the community use wood to bake bread in tanour ovens. People use wood and coal in bukharies or sandalis to heat their homes.