Afghan Water and Energy Minister Visits Machalgho Dam, Promises to Resume Work Soon
The Taliban’s Ministry of Water and Energy has announced that Mullah Mohammadi Younus Akhundzada, the minister of this ministry, visited the Machalgho Dam in Paktia province and expressed hope that the remaining work on the project will resume in the near future.
According to a released statement, the Minister of Water and Energy inspected the completed sections of the dam along with a technical delegation and reviewed its previous progress. However, the exact timing for resuming the actual work and the means of funding the project have not been clarified.
The Machalgho Dam is located in Ahmadabad district in Paktia province. The dam is designed with a height of 47 meters and a water storage capacity of 5.28 million cubic meters. Two canals, measuring 7.5 and 12 kilometers in length, have also been planned for the dam.
According to the provided information, the dam will have the capacity to irrigate approximately 2,350 hectares of agricultural land, and it is anticipated that more than 20,000 residents of 11 villages will benefit from it.
While the Taliban administration speaks of restarting work, a local official in Paktia previously stated that only about 30% of the dam’s construction had been completed. The prolonged suspension of infrastructure projects in several provinces has raised concerns among residents about the fate of such promises.
