Taliban-run water company seeks cooperation with India on urban wastewater treatment
The Taliban administration in India has called for cooperation to expand urban wastewater management and treatment, saying officials from the state-run urban water supply and sewerage company, during a visit to India, sought broader collaboration in a sector that, according to the administration, needs expanded facilities and improved technical capacity.
The press office of the state-owned companies said today that Maulvi Ghulam Rahman Kazim, chief executive of the state-owned urban water supply and sewerage company, stressed bilateral cooperation on experience-sharing, vocational training and improving urban wastewater management in a meeting with officials from India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
According to the Taliban administration, Engineer Faqeullah Jamal, head of wastewater affairs, and Masoud Zafar, an engineer in the wastewater department of the state-owned urban water supply and sewerage company, also attended the meeting, and the two sides discussed areas of joint cooperation in urban wastewater management and treatment.
The Taliban administration also said that in the meeting, Ghulam Rahman Kazim provided information about the company’s activities, level of services, existing capacities and needs, and stressed making use of India’s experience to establish and expand wastewater treatment facilities.
According to the report, a representative of India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs also provided information on urban wastewater systems, management methods and the ministry’s development programmes, and gave details about the ‘AMRUT’ project.
Indian officials also expressed their readiness to cooperate in establishing wastewater treatment plants, especially pond-based systems, as well as in improving the professional and technical capacity of the company’s staff. The state-owned urban water supply and sewerage company is one of the service bodies under Taliban administration and is responsible for part of Afghanistan’s urban water and sewerage services.
