HERAT CITY (SW) – The engineer of lower Hari Rod River zone in Herat, Hassan Fazli has said a 60cm deep fault has emerged in one of the India – Afghanistan Friendship Dam (Salma Dam) walls.
He told Salam Watandar the dam has some 500 meters long wall and can store up to 633 million cubic meters of water, but currently less than 200 million cubic meters of water is stored in it as precaution.
Fazli said the issue of fault has been shared with the relevant government officials in Kabul and the Indian Embassy officials. He added the Indian engineers have assured the issue would soon be addressed.
He discarded reports of the Dam’s basin being compromised due to the fault.
The Taliban have blown-up the power transmission line supplying electricity from this dam to Herat city, and have not allowed the power utility to fix it.
Developed with the Indian financial assistance worth some $ 300 million, the Indian – Afghanistan Friendship Dam commonly known as Salma Dam was inaugurated by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narandra Modi four years ago.
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