Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) on Tuesday said the third phase of Kamal Khan Dam is progressing well and that they are hopeful it will finish sooner than expected.
According to MoEW, work on phase three of the Kamal Khan Dam, on the Helmand River in Chaharbarak district of Nimroz province, is progressing well.
Asif Ghafoori, the head of the energy and water minister’s office said Kamal Khan Dam will play a vital role in government being able to manage Afghanistan’s water and that it is a step toward the implementation of Hirmand water treaty between Afghanistan and Iran.
“We had specified 42 months for this dam of which 12 months have passed and 30 months remain. The speed of work is good, and we can predict that the company will finish the project before the final deadline,” said Ghafoori.
A number of economic analysts meanwhile said Kamal Khan Dam and other dams in the west and south-west parts of the country will play a greater role in people’s lives as drought takes their toll.
The analysts also said insecurity has affected lots of development projects in the country and they urged government to ensure security around Kamal Khan Dam is maintained.
“Internal disagreements is one of the reasons that most of the projects are delayed or remain unimplemented. We hope that the leaders and officials do not sacrifice dam projects (for their own interests),” Abdul Wasi Haidari, an economic analyst said.
The third phase of Kamal Khan Dam is being built by an Afghan-Turkish company and will cost an estimated $78 million USD.
After the construction of the dam, it will generate nine megawatts of electricity. Also, the dam will store over 50 million cubic meters of water and will irrigate 150,000 acres of land in Nimroz province.