Reconstruction works at Logar’s Kharwar dam resume

PUL-I-ALAM (Pajhwok): Reconstruction work of the water dam in Kharwar district of central Logar province has been resumed to bring under irrigation thousands of acres of barren land and benefit 13,000 families.

Abdul Rahman, a farmer in Kharwar district, told Pajhwok the dam’s construction would address the irrigation water shortage and turn thousands of acres of barren land into cultivable land.

He suggested that the hydropower generation phase of the Kharwar dam also needed reconstruction in order to electrify the remaining districts of Logar, including Kharwar.

Technical Engineer of Kharwar Dam, Fazal Rahman Umarzai, said the Kharwar Dam was 36 meters high, 140 meters long and 20 meters deep and has the capacity to store 17 million cubic meters of water.

He said thousands of acres of agricultural land will be irrigated and 13,000 families will benefit from it once the dam was completed.

Maulvi Mohammad Ismail Akhunzada, Logar River Basin director, told Pajhwok that the Ministry of Water and Power had started reconstructing the Kharwar Dam at a cost of 100 million afghanis. The work will be completed in the next six months and about 15000 acres of agricultural land will be irrigated.

Shahidullah Hamraz, Logar Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock spokesman, told Pajhwok that the Kharwar water dam had special importance for agriculture and horticulture.

He said 42 percent of reconstruction work of Kharwar water dam had been completed.

He said the dam would help increase the underground water level and prevent soil erosion, floods and droughts.

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