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WATER POLITICS

Via Ariana News, a report on three new dams to be built in Kandahar to ease the province’s water shortage crisis:

Three new dams are being built in the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar in a bid to ease an acute water shortage after years of drought.

China’s Xinhua News Agency reported the dams are being built in Shah Walikot and Spin Boldak districts.

The dam in Spin Boldak district will reportedly hold up to 2.3 million cubic meters of water and will cost 35 million afghanis (about $400,000) to build, Xinhua reported.

The other two dams are in Manda Kanda and Lawal Shah Walikot in Shah Walikot district.

“One dam with a capacity of 1.7 million cubic meters will be constructed in Manda Kanda at a cost of 50 million afghanis,” a local religious leader Mullah Khaleq told Xinhua.

Kandahar province is known for its grapes and pomegranates but has taken a hard knock in the past few years due to the ongoing drought.

Local farmers have had to rely on wells, which has in turn resulted in a further loss of underground water.

The new dams will bring water to two million acres of farmland, Xinhua reported