Members of the Nimroz provincial council on Wednesday strongly criticized President Ashraf Ghani for not delivering on his promise about the completion of the Kamal Khan Dam, saying Ghani had pledged the dam would be operational in four months, but five months have passed since he made the commitment and the construction has not been completed.

However, a local government official in Nimroz has said that the dam will be operational in a month.

According to the Nimroz provincial council, a lot of work has yet to be done on the dam.

President Ashraf Ghani visited Nimroz in July and vowed to complete the construction of the hydropower dam in four months.

“Kamal Khan Dam still needs work and time, I hope that the president puts pressure on the responsible authorities,” said Gul Ahmad Ahmadi, deputy head of Nimroz provincial council.

“The president’s promise was a political promise, we hope that these commitments are addressed,” said Bismillah Seerat, a resident in Nimroz.

“It is expected that very soon, perhaps in a month's time, we will witness water intake at the dam,” said Zmaryalia Ahadi, the governor of Nimroz. 

The dam has been built in three phases. Phases 1 and 2 of the construction ended in 1966 and 2011. Work on the third phase of the dam was inaugurated by President Ghani in April 2017.

The Kamal Khan Dam is built on the Helmand River in Chahar Burjak district, Nimroz province. It will irrigate 174,000 hectares of land in three districts and will also supply water to the provincial center as officials put it.

The dam is expected to provide nine megawatts of power and will store 52 million cubic meters of water, according to the National Water Affairs Regulation Authority.

At least one million people will benefit from the dam, according to the National Water Affairs Regulation Authority.