Herat Governor Muhammad Asef Rahimi announced that the Salma Dam will start collecting water in the next 45 days, after which point it should be ready to start aiding in irrigation and electricity-generation.
According to officials, the plan is to begin storing water from the Harirod River in order to test the damn’s strength. Complete use of the dam is not expected for another year; once finished, it is expected to help irrigate 70,000 hectars of land and generate 42 megawatts of electricity.
Previously, there were concerns over transporting the metal doors needed for the dam from India. But, on behalf of the Indian diplomats and the company that is building the dam, Governor Rahimi has said that all the technical work has been completed.
“From the conversations that we have had with officials and implementers of this project, the technical side of this project is in its last days and there is hope that water will start getting stored in 45 days,” Rahimi said.
There are some concerns about security threats to the dam project. However, the commander of the 207 Zafar battalion assured security forces would be able to protect the dam. “There are sufficient security forces for maintaining the security of this dam,” General Taj Muhammad Jahed said.
“We would like to assure the officials and implementers of this project that there is no threat to building it.” India has spent close to 300 million USD to build the dam.—Agencies
