Nangarhar Canal Department revenue reaches 70m afs

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): The annual revenue of the Canal Department of eastern Nangarhar province grew from 15 million afghanis to 70 million afghanis after the government reclaimed most part of the canal’s usurped land, local officials say.

The Taliban would each year collect up to two billion afghanis in taxes from farmers cultivating the canal’s land, but now the rebels have been driven away, said Nangarhar governor Shah Mahmood Miakhel.

He said it was highly important to cut off income sources of the Taliban and it was main goal of ongoing operations in the province.

The governor told Pajhwok Afghan News that recently major security operations were conducted in Batikot, Kot and Ghanikhel districts to retake thousands of acres of usurped land of the canal. After the operation, local uprising forces were assigned with security duty.

Miakhel said previously 15 million afghanis revenue could be collected from farmlands but now the revenue had risen to 70 million afghanis.

He said the revenue would reach 150 million afghanis once all programs about the canal were executed by the canal’s authority.

Nangarhar Canal Department head Parvaiz Ali told Pajhwok that they had chalked out several plans for reconstruction and development of the irrigation canal and their implementation would multiply the department’s income.

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