Govt asked to fulfill promises about Chak dam’s restoration

MAIDAN SHAHR (Pajhwok): The government is yet to honor its promises regarding rehabilitation of the Chack hydro power dam in central Maidan Wardak province, complain residents.

The residents of Chak district say the dam’s reconstruction works remain incomplete.

The locals expressed these views after Maidan Wardak governor Qari Bakhtiar Maaz visited Chak district yesterday to listen to problems of the people.

Khurram Dil, a resident of Durankhil village in the district, told Pajhwok: “The dam has stored sediment, reducing its water storage capacity. The government should pay more attention to the activation of the dam.”

He said in the past the dam would supply electricity to Kabul, but now the machines had been taken away from it.

He also said the dam’s restoration works started during the previous government, but could not be completed.

He said the government had promised to complete the remaining works, but the promise remained unfulfilled.

He said that the current government should complete reconstruction works of the dam.

Abdul Malik, another resident of Chak district, said the machines were removed under the pretext of repairing them, but nothing happened and the electricity to nearby villages remained cut off.

He said all devices for generating electricity still existed in the dam, but the reservoir was full of sediments and needed to be cleared.

Chak district chief Maulvi Sardar Ahmad Sabit said that 60 percent of the repair works at the dam had been complete and the rest would be completed soon.

He said all the old machines and newly bought technical equipment of the dam were safe and being taken care of.

Governor Qari Bakhtiar Maaz also assured the people that he would talk to the relevant authorities about restoration of the power dam.

He added that he hoped that the restoration of the dam would be completed soon.

The governor said: “We are trying to convey this matter to the leadership, so that the people of Maidan Wardak can benefit from electricity.”

According to officials of Chak Dam, the dam was built by Germans in 1938 and at that time, it also provided electricity to capital Kabul.

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