Residents living near Kunar River demand retaining walls

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): People living near the Kunar River and natural streams in eastern Nangarhar province say the government should construct retaining walls on the river’s banks to protect their crops and homes from being flooded each year.

However, officials say the Nangarhar River Basin Authority and the Rural Rehabilitation and Development department have launched joint efforts to resolve this issue.

Residents of districts located near the Kunar River complain due to lack of retaining walls, their crops are destroyed each year by a flooded Kunar River.

Shah Wali, a resident of Zakhel area of Kama district near the Kunar River, asked the government to construct retaining walls on the river’s banks.

He told Pajhwok: “Our houses and farms are close to the Kunar River. The river bursts its banks each year due to floods and damages our houses and agricultural lands. The government should build retaining walls on both sides of the river so that people can get rid of this problem.”

Ghulam Siddiq, a resident of Samarkhel area in Behsud district, said local residents lived with fear each year that their homes and farms would be washed away by floods.

Residents of some other districts living near natural streams say they face the same problem.

Mohammad Qasim, a resident of Fateh Abad area of Sararud district, said when snow on mountains started melting in spring, the water inundates their crops each year. Crops near the Khogyani stream were often washed away after heavy rains, he said.

Saeed Khan, a resident of Haiderkhel area of Kot district, said floods not only destroy people’s lands each year, but also damage roads.

Thousands of acres of land and 500 houses were destroyed in Nangarhar due to rains and floods in earlier this solar year.

Maulvi Mohammad Sadiq Hashmi, deputy director of Nangarhar River Basin Authority, said construction of retaining walls had been started in some areas facing greater threat of destruction. He said the most vulnerable areas were given priority.

“A 1,500-meter retaining wall has been built on the banks of Kunar River in Muslimabad area in cooperation with an aid agency. Retaining walls will be constructed in all areas currently under threat of flooding.”

If the retaining wall project is completed and the Kunar River’s banks are consolidated, thousands of hectares of land and residential houses will be protected from the threat of floods and rising water.

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