Takhar, Kunduz residents want work resumed on 20km canal

TALOQAN (Pajhwok): Residents and farmers of northern Takhar and Kunduz provinces are concerned about the halt in construction of a canal and urge the government to resume work on the project.

The 20-kilometer canal between Dasht-i-Archi district of Kunduz and Khwaja Ghar of Takhar is estimated to cost $14 million.

Residents of Khwaja Ghar district of Takhar and Dasht-i-Archi of Kunduz say construction work of the canal had come to a halt.

They said the construction of the canal was started a few years ago for irrigation of agricultural lands, but it was left unfinished.

Sayed Ali, a farmer in Dasht-i-Archi district, said the canal from Kokcha River once completed would bring under irrigation 90,000 acres of land and would benefit hundreds of families. He said the canal could not be completed due to negligence of the previous government.

He said only four kilometers portion of the canal had been completed and the rest 16 kilometers remained undone.

Abdul Wali, a resident of Khwaja Ghar district, said the canal would have the capacity to carry 25 cubic meters of water per second from the Kokcha river, which would irrigate over 90,000 acres of land in two neighboring districts. However, he said the delay in its work had irked local residents.

Haji Najmuddin, head of the canal, said due to the lack of government’s attention, farmers had started constructing and repairing the canal on their own expenses and it would take a month to complete.

He said if the government completed the canal, the problems of thousands of farmers in the two neighboring districts would be solved.

Maulvi Sibghatullah Qane, water management in charge in Takhar, said the work of this canal came to a halt after the fall of the previous government, but currently efforts were being made to complete the project and similar half-done projects.

Hijratullah Nasrat, administrative chief for Dasht-i-Archi district of Kunduz, said that $14 million had been earmarked for the canal project and efforts were underway to resume work on the canal.

sa/ma