PUL-I-KHUMRI - One of the lock gates of Pul-i-Khumri hydroelectric dam in northern Baghlan province broke off immediately after water released from the reservoir to inaugurate it gates after repair, officials said Saturday.
Ghulam Qader, head of Afghan Nasaji Company, which is responsible for the maintenance of the dam, told Pajhwok Afghan News that all four gates of the dam were rehabilitated by a foreign company.
He said one of the gates broke away after little water was released from the dam today during its inauguration. “This dam may not be useable if filled with water.”
Qader said the contracted company and the Ministry of Water and Energy were responsible to provide explanation about the issue.
Farmers of Dandi Ghori area of Baghlan province feared their around 20,000 acres of farmland would be flooded if the gates of the dam were not closed.
Mir Hassan, a resident, said they were waiting for water of the dam for the last three months but its gate broke off just an hour after water released from it. He said they would lose their farms if the dam was not reconstructed soon.
However, Hujatullah Yousufzai, a representative of the Ministry of Water and Energy and manager of Pul-i-Khumri Hydroelectric Dam, said that the gates of the dam could not be properly installed due to urgency of farmers that their crops were dying.
He said one of the gates of the dam was moved away from its place but it would be reinstalled in a day.
A Tajikistani company, Tromontaj, is responsible for reconstruction of the dam’s gates.
Mahmod Kashoraov, owner of the company, during the launch of the project, had said his company would fundamentally construct the gates of the dam.
However, he refused to talk to Pajhwok Afghan News today about one of the dam’s gate breaking away.
The contract for reconstruction of the dam was given to Tromontaj Company against 2.9 million USD by the Ministry of Water and Energy a year back. (Pajhwok)