Repairing of Kabul-Kandahar highway kicks off

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Local officials on Sunday said work on repairing parts of the Kabul-Kandahar highway that had been damaged by landmines and heavy vehicles over the past 20 years, has been launched.

Action for repairing of the highway was taken after Pajhwok Afghan News published a report on the road’s condition a few days ago based on complaints from the public.

In the report, residents and drivers called for the repair of the route as soon as possible, saying the country’s main highway had been badly damaged during fighting and heavy traffic, which nearly doubled the six-hour journey.

Now Taliban officials say they have begun repairing the Kabul-Kandahar highway from Ghazni to the Pakh Kandi area of Zabul’s Shajoi district.

MulaviHabibullahMujahid, Ghazni’s director of information and culture, told Pajhwok Afghan News that roads and bridges along the highway, which had been destroyed in the past due to conflicts and heavy traffic, were being repaired.

“Currently we are constructing damaged culverts and filling craters on this road so that vehicles can pass on it comfortably and people would have no problem in their movements,” he added.

He said the local administration planned to build not only the Kabul-Kandahar highway but also the entire ring road next year. However, he did not provide the exact date for launching work on the route.

Kabul-Kandahar highwaywas built in the early years of the previous regime, much of which was destroyed by landmines and heavily loaded cargo trucks.

Passengers and truckers on the route say the government was repairing damaged bridges and other damaged parts to prevent it from further damage during the approaching winter.

Nematullah, who drives a taxi from Ghazni to Kabul, told Pajhwok that many parts along the Kabul-Ghazni road had damaged and needed to be repaired.

He said that when the road was newly asphalted, it took less than two hours to reach from Kabul to Ghazni, but now that the road was damaged and the travel time increased to three hours.

He said most of the road from Kabul to Ghazni had been damaged by landmines.

Mohammad Gul, who drives a truck from Ghazni to Kandahar, said that in addition to the conflict, the movement of heavy loaded vehicles had also damaged the highway.

He added that more than half of the road was damaged by overloaded vehicles.

“I knew many drivers who were overloading their trucks beyond the legal weight made the road unpaved, the reason the previous government was not controlling it was corruption,” he said.

He urged officials concerned to take fundamental steps for controlling heavy loaded vehicles and repairing the highway.

Road deterioration has not only increased the rate of traffic accidents, but has also negatively affected the economy of motorists.

Drivers say damaged bridges and poor road conditions have also caused damage to their vehicles.

The Kabul-Kandahar highway is one of the most important roads in the country that connects around ten provinces.

/ma

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