In the third cabinet meeting of the Islamic Emirate, the primary focus was on addressing the erosion of the Amu River banks.
According to a statement from the Arg, this meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate, tasked the Ministry of Energy and Water with taking decisive steps to reinforce the banks of the Amu River.
Hamidullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, told TOLOnews about the cabinet meeting: “The third cabinet meeting was chaired by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate, where decisive measures were agreed upon to reinforce the banks of the Amu Darya to prevent further erosion.”
The Ministry of Energy and Water said that in recent years, it has implemented 20 bank reinforcement projects along the Amu River, worth 400 million Afghani, and new reinforcement projects are currently being executed in various parts of the river.
Matiullah Abid, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy and Water, said: “In the past few years, the Ministry of Energy and Water has executed around 20 projects worth 400 million Afghanis for the reinforcement of the Amu River banks, many of which have been completed.”
Meanwhile, some experts have emphasized that preventing the erosion of fertile lands along the Amu River is crucial and a key responsibility of the interim government. They warned that if erosion is not prevented, Afghan lands will gradually be destroyed.
Najibullah Sadaid, a water management expert, told TOLOnews: “The Amu River began causing erosion when the banks of Central Asian countries were reinforced unilaterally, leading to the erosion of Afghanistan’s weaker banks. The annual erosion is so significant that some districts, including Qarqin and Khwaja Bahauddin, may cease to exist within the next decade.”
Khanjan Alokozay, a member of the leadership board of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said: “Just as the Qosh Tepa Canal is important for the people of Afghanistan and has a positive impact on the economy, the reinforcement of the entire Amu River banks is crucial.”
On July 27, delegations from the Islamic Emirate and Uzbekistan, led by Attaullah Omari, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, and Khamraev Shavkat Rakhimovich, Minister of Water Resources of Uzbekistan, visited the eroded areas around the Amu River in Balkh province and emphasized the need to prevent further erosion.
