Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) in Balkh and the Afghan-German Cooperation signed the contract for upgrading a power supply network in the eastern part of Mazar-e Sharif.
More than 20,000 residents in the neighborhoods of Ali Chopan, Karte Wahadat, Bapa Padshah and Islam Abad will benefit from the improved energy infrastructure.
The Afghan-German Cooperation’s Regional Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) supported DABS in identifying the need for this project and is funding the project’s implementation at a total cost of about AFN 160 million.
Mohammad Bashir Tawhidi, Deputy Governor of Balkh said: “Providing electricity is a vital service for our people. The area is densely populated and deprived of electricity, so we hope this important project will tackle this issue.”
The network that currently supplies the four neighborhoods in the east of Mazar city is out-dated, in disarray and beyond repair. A modern 20-kilovolt network of 2.5 kilometers in length will replace it. In addition, fourteen transformer substations with a total capacity of 5.04 megavolt-ampere and a 31 kilometer-long low-voltage network will be installed. The transformer substations will distribute electricity to about 2,700 households as well as various public facilities, including schools, police stations, markets and health centers. This will vastly improve living conditions in the area and foster its economic and urban development.
Hamidullah Hamidi, Director of Balkh’s Electricity Department DABS, said DABS will closely monitor the construction activities.
RIDF will also offer on-the-job training, coaching and mentoring sessions for engineers and managers of DABS in Balkh during the project’s implementation. These activities aim at strengthening DABS’s ability to identify, manage, implement, operate and maintain similar projects independently in the future.
