Faryab elders want Dahindara Dam project completed

MAIMANA (Pajhwok): Some tribal elders in northwestern Faryab province have expressed their concern about the lack of water for drinking and irrigation and said if work on construction of Dahindara water diversion did not started Maimana City and some districts would be not more suitable for residing.

In a gathering organized in the Mimana Municipality they decided to send a delegation in coordination with the Municipality and Ulema Shura and talk with high ranking officials regarding the resumption of work on Dahindara Dam in the province.

According to the local influential persons, 60 percent residents of Maimana City, Pashtonkot and Khawaja Musa districts got the water of their need from Sar Haus but currently they are faced with the shortage of water.

Abdul Ghafoor Taimuri, the Afghankot locality representative, said during the past regime work on the water diversion portion of Dahindara Dam started but due to some reasons the work could not completed.

He said the groundwater level has dropped by 60 percent and people are faced with the shortage of water asking the government to address the problem.

Dr. Noor Mohammad Noorani, an influential person from Pashtonkot district, said 41 villages have stopped cultivation due to continued drought and the lack of water resources, their trees are eradicating and they are facing drinking water shortage.

He said if work on Dahindara Dam not resumed and the drought continued the irrigated lands would be converted to rain-fed lands in the future.

Abdul Wahab, another tribal elder from Maimana City first Police District, said life, people and government persisted where water existed.

He echoed the concerns and said people were worried about the shortage of water and added if work on the Dihandar Dam not resumed the land will lose its value.

Abdul Qodus Kelich, head of the Fayab Elders Council, said during the meeting it was decided that some representatives from Maimana City and Pashtonkot district in coordination with Municipality would travel to Kabul for talks with relevant officials.

He said work on Dahandara Dam started during the past government, adding that during the meeting with acting official in Kabul the resumption of work on Dahindara Dam would be urged.

Maimana City Mayor Da Mullah Gul Ahmad Mubashir, also assured of full cooperation in organizing the elders meeting to Kabul and discussion the water shortage issue with relevant officials there.

He said the current system was merciful on its people and wanted to serve the masses.

Work on the Dahandara Dam stopped late in 2020 due to security reasons, the reconstruction of the dam was started in 2017 by Mepta Group and the than Energy Minister Ali Ahmad Usmani inaugurated the project.

It is pertinent to mention that Pajhwok at least five times reported on why work on the dam had stopped.

According to the Minister of Energy and Water, Dahindara Dam is one of the five largest water dams in Afghanistan, with a height of 67 meters, more than 20 million cubic meters of water will be stored in it.

The reconstruction work required 37 million budget and it will be completed In the next five years.

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