Power Outage in Herat After Turkmenistan Electricity Poles Collapse
Following the collapse of six electricity poles importing power from Turkmenistan, large parts of Herat have been without electricity for the past four days. This incident, caused by storms and heavy rainfall, has plunged most areas of the city into darkness amid the peak winter cold.
Residents of Herat say this problem recurs every winter season, but no fundamental action has been taken to prevent it. This is the second time this year that imported electricity from Turkmenistan to Herat has been interrupted for several days. Mohammad Rafiq Shaheer, head of Herat’s Council of Experts, states that citizens have been struggling with frequent power outages for years, and despite the existence of technical solutions, no foundational work has been done to permanently resolve the issue. According to him, there is insufficient attention to reinforcing infrastructure during the summer, leading to a recurrent crisis with the arrival of cold weather.
The Afghan Electricity Company, operating under Taliban administration, announced that six 120-kilovolt transmission towers from Turkmenistan in the Band-e Bagharchar area of Rabat Sangi district have been destroyed, and technical teams are currently working on reinstalling them. Mohammad Sadiq Haqparast, the company’s spokesperson, said efforts are underway to restore the power system in Herat to normal conditions.
Herat’s electricity comes from both Turkmenistan and Iran, but most parts of the city rely heavily on Turkmenistan’s power supply. With the annual recurrence of this issue and the lack of an effective preventive plan, citizens are urging the Taliban administration to undertake fundamental and sustainable repairs to the electricity infrastructure to prevent this crisis from happening in future winters.
