MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Construction work on the Qush Tapa canal — a 60 billion afghanis project — was launched in northern Balkh province on Wednesday.
Deputy prime minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and a number of ministers attended the project’s inauguration ceremony.
Feasibility study of the canal was carried out in 2018 and the canal project is considered one of the mega projects on regional level.
The 380km long canal can carry 10 billion cubic meters of water from the Amu river. The canal — 100 meters wide and 8.5 meters deep – can irrigate half a million hectors of land in Balkh, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces.
Abdul Rahman Attash, Executive Director of Afghanistan National Development Company, described the project as one of the biggest and most vital projects for Afghanistan.
He said the canal started from Qush Tapa area of Kaldar district of Balkh and ended in Faryab’s Anokhi area.
He said the last portion of the canal reached 150 meter width and could carry 668 cubic meters of water per second and could irrigate 1.5 million acres of land in the three provinces.
The official said 250,000 people would find work opportunities and implementation of similar projects could help improve the country’s economy.
Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry Nooruddin Azizi also described the project as “huge and important” and said that the project could prove to be the most beneficial for Afghanistan’s self-sufficiency and could have significant achievements in the field of agriculture.
Azizi says Afghanistan imports about two billion worth of wheat, oil and sugar each year, and that the project will meet Afghanistan’s domestic needs.
He said if even half of the project was completed in a year, it could help the country achieve self-sufficiency.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar also said that it was the first major irrigation project that had not been inaugurated or implemented in Afghanistan before. He added that the canal would be completed within five years.
“No government can make progress with the help of others. Afghanistan is a rich country and can meet its agricultural needs on its own,” he said.
Baradar added that with the implementation of such projects, the Afghan working class will return from other countries and work here.
Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Abdul Rahman Rashid, who attended the inaugural ceremony, said that about 75 percent of Afghanistan’s population was engaged in agriculture.
He stressed the importance of water management and said that the construction of such canals would help control and manage Afghanistan’s water.
He called on national businessmen and agricultural experts to invest and work within the country and contribute to the country’s development.
Riaz-ud-Din Sharifi, deputy director of operations and production of the National Development Company, said that the initial works of the canal such as design and survey have been completed and the budget has been allocated.
He added that the canal would be constructed in three phases at a cost of 60 billion afghanis and the cost would be paid from the national budget.
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