Paktika’s Plotoni Dam Project 35% Complete, Taliban Say

The Taliban administration has announced that the Plotoni Dam project in Paktika province is 35% complete.

According to the Taliban-run Ministry of Water and Energy, the dam has the capacity to store 25 million cubic metres of water and, once completed, will irrigate about 2,500 hectares of agricultural land.

The administration said the Plotoni Dam also has the capacity to generate 0.9 megawatts of electricity, which could help strengthen agricultural and industrial activities. Although the project may play a role in water supply and resource management, the slow and limited progress of such projects under the current conditions highlights the challenges facing Afghanistan’s critical infrastructure sector.

Those carrying out the project have stressed that completion of the dam could have an important impact on providing sustainable water and increasing agricultural production in Paktika province, but so far the services provided to the public have remained very limited.