Amu River still threatens Balkh’s Shortepa district villages

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Residents of Shortepa district in northern Balkh province say although reinforcement work has already been done to prevent the Amu River from causing destructions, its waves continue to threaten their lands, homes and lives.

The raging Amu Darya River has destroyed people’s homes, highways, mosques, schools and agricultural lands in Shortepa and Kaldar.

About two years ago, the caretaker government approved a budget of two billion afghanis for reinforcement of the Amu River banks and a number of emergency reinforcement projects were launched, but local residents say they have little impact.

Residents of the two districts are calling on the government to carry out basic works and permanently prevent destructions caiused by the river.

Jan Murad, a resident of Shortepa district, told Pajhwok Afghan News that although emergency reinforcements had been made in their area, the river’s waves were still destroying their lands.

He added a number of people had migrated to other areas and the rest of the population was living in fear due to the destructions caused by the river.

He urged the government to build a retaining wall on the banks of the river and on the border with Uzbekistan and carry out basic works.

Qurban Nazar, another resident of Hazaz Toqi village in Shortepa district, said that emergency reinforcement projects were only useful for a few days and were destroyed again over time.

He said their district, especially their village, was facing a serious threat of destruction and fundamental and permanent work should be carried out to strengthen the river’s banks.

A number of other residents made similar statements and demanded basic and fundamental reinforcements from the caretaker government.

On the other hand, officials from the Ministry of Water and Energy said urgent reinforcement works would be carried out to raise the banks of the Amu River.

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