Farmers demand construction of retaining walls

ASADABAD (Pajhwok): A number of growers in eastern Kunar province demand the construction of retaining walls and check dams to protect their say their farmlands from possible floods.

Delbar Bajauri, a resident of the Bacha village of Marawara district, told Pajhwok Afghan News his crops and farmlands were affected by rain-swollen rivers and canals.

Haji Taj Mohammad, a resident and tribal elder from the Moni area of Shigal district, recalled the previous government had established some check dams to store rainwater and prevent damage to farmlands.

He believed if the government and partner organisations built similar dams and retaining walls, agricultural lands in the province would be saved from the danger of flooding.

“Since Kunar is a mountainous province, during the rainfall, water from mountains and rivers cannot be completely controlled,” he argued.

The growers urged the government to construct retaining walls, check dams and water heads to prevent rainwater damaging crops.

Eng Waliullah, an official of the Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Department, said small agricultural schemes, which were implemented with assistance from international institutions, provided employment opportunities to hundreds of local people for a short period of time.

Efforts were underway to build dams and canals to prevent the destruction of agricultural lands and irrigate crops in other areas, he concluded.

sa/mud

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