Talibanskt Kanalprojekt
2024-07-12
The Afghan Qosh Tepa canal project, branching from the Amu Darya river, is expected to cost $684 million. The canal will run for 285 kilometers and measure 100 meters wide. The first stretch of 108 km is already finalized. The canal will become operable in 2028.
The canal is important for Afghanistan as it will:
Revitalize 580,000 hectares of land in three Afghan provinces. Northern Afghanistan, now plagued by droughts, will become the country’s main farm. Create 200,000 jobs in construction alone. According to the Taliban’s spokesmen, the project will allow Kabul to feed Afghans without food imports and will be paid for without foreign loans.However, the Qosh Tepa canal branches off the Amu Darya before the river flows through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, two ex-Soviet republics, which get 80% of their water from the river. Experts warn the Qosh Tepa will divert a quarter of the Amu Darya’s water, leading to droughts in Central Asia.
Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has repeatedly expressed concern that the project “will disturb the water regime.”
Afghanistan did not sign up for agreements that regulate water use in the region. It does not participate in the Interstate Coordination Commission of Central Asian Countries, which every year determines each country’s quota for use of the river’s water. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan have signed the UN’s Water Convention, which requires countries to share the waters of border rivers. The Taliban government has not joined the convention. It has also not clarified its stance on the Soviet-Afghan agreements of 1946 and 1977, which determined the Afghan quota of the Amu Darya’s water.Visa ditt stöd till det informationsarbete Carl genomför
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