KABUL (SW) – Officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, say that they are building small dams at a cost of 450 million afghanis to control monsoon rains in 12 provinces.
According to them, with the construction of these dams, the problem of water shortage in the country will be solved to some extent.
Nurul Rahman Rahmanyar, the general manager of the Ministry of Agriculture’s procurement department program, said on Saturday during his trip to Uruzgan and at the opening ceremony of the construction of a dam, that the cost of building each small water dam is three million afghanis, which is provided by this ministry.
Rahman Yar said: “The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to build a water dam in 12 provinces with the number of existing districts at a cost of 450 million afghanis. The costs will be paid from the internal budget, and in the coming days, the practical work of their construction will begin.”
Although the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture have not specified in which provinces these small dams will be built, but they say that they have started the construction of seven dams in Uruzgan today.
Meanwhile, a number of Uruzgan residents welcomed this action of the Ministry of Agriculture, but they want the authorities to build big water dams in this province.
Mohammad Sadiq, a resident of Uruzgan, said: “In the past, we used to harvest a lot of corn and wheat from our land, but this year I planted less. We are facing water shortage and other problems. The government should build big dams. If the government builds the Aghajan Band, we will be very happy.”
On the other hand, water management experts also praise the construction of small dams and say that if such projects are not implemented, drought will cause serious damage to Afghanistan’s agriculture sector in the coming years.
Ahmadullah Ahmadi, an expert and university professor, said: “The underground water level is decreasing day by day, especially in the southern regions. The government should build water dams in different areas to solve the problem of water scarcity.”
This is despite the fact that not long ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicted that this year, due to the drought in Afghanistan, the grain harvest will be lower than average.
ENDS
