The much-anticipated Kamal Khan Dam in the western province of Nimroz is prepared for its inauguration within the next few days, officials said on Monday.
The dam is located 95 kilometers from the city of Zaranj in the Chaharborjak district in Nimroz.
The dam built along the Helmand River in the Chaharbarak district will irrigate 174,000 hectares of land in three districts and will also supply water to the provincial center.
The dam is expected to provide nine megawatts of power, and, in the first stage, it will store 52 million cubic meters of water, according to the National Water Affairs Regulation Authority.
The dam is 16 meters high and is intended to irrigate agricultural lands while also preventing flooding in the province.
“The construction work and other activities on the dam will be completed by the end of the current year (1399) (March 21), and we will witness its inauguration on the second day of Hamal (March 22),” said the head of the water resource department of the National Water Affairs Regulation Authority, Fayiz Rahman Azizi.
The Kamal Khan Dam, with its capacity to store 52 million cubic meters of water, will have a positive impact on the economy of Nimroz and the west zone, said Abdul Zaher Shakib, acting director of the Afghanistan Science Academy.
“The Kamal Khan Dam is in one of the dry areas in the west of the country and is a big achievement for improving Afghanistan’s economic growth and environmental protection,” he added.
MP Kamal Safi said that the dam has been faced with threats; therefore it will require the people’s cooperation to protect it.
