.jpg)
HERAT CITY (SW): Local officials in Herat province have said that the newly built Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam (AIFD) is helping irrigate only 35, 000 hector of land, not the initially promised 75, 000 hectors.
At the inauguration of this landmark project, officials at the Ministry of Water and Energy claimed that the AIFD would help generate 42 mega watt electricity and irrigate 75, 000 hectors of land. It was supposed to have two major canals in the north and south that would have supplied water to Chasht, Oobi, Pashton Zarghon, Gizri, Injeel, Zinda Jan and Ghoryano districts.
Noor Ahmad Bariz, director general for the Hari Rod and Murghab River Basins, told Salam Watandaar that due to lack of water amid less or no rain, they cannot go ahead with building the new canals. Meanwhile, Atiq Romal, director general for the directorate of planning in Herat, told Salam Watandar that unless these two canals are not built, more area cannot be irrigated. Romal stressed that developing these canals is the responsibility of the Ministry of Water and Energy. He underlined that it was the second part of the project, and should be completed according to the plan as the AIFD has completed.
Commenting on this, Ali Ahmad Usmani, Minister for Water and Energy told Salam Watandar that the AIFD is supposed to store the flood and rain water and then release it when there is shortage in the Hari Rod River for irrigation during winter. He underlined that hundreds of small canals have been developed for irrigation purposes.
The AIFD was initially conceived by the First President Mohammad Dawood Khan. Ground breaking for the project started in the 1976 but ragging violence in the country hindered further development until 2005 when work resumed. It was inaugurated by the Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4 June 2016.
ENDS
