Works to rehabilitate and complete the Khanabad irrigation system in Kunduz province, the third largest in the country, started this week. The project will supply irrigation water to 500 thousand beneficiaries in the Khanabad area in a more reliable and equitable way, improving agricultural output and livelihoods. It will also reduce environmental damages caused by unregulated flow of water. The project will be implemented during the next 21 months by Afghan and Iranian construction companies under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works. The European Union is funding the works for a total of €12 million (AFA 940 million).

“The war interrupted the works on this site in the late 1970s. As construction workers start treading again on Khanabad barrage we are symbolically bridging a gap of thirty years in the development of the country. This project will restore this region as the bread basket of Afghanistan, reducing the country’s dependency on expensive imports at a time of increasing global wheat prices” said Ambassador Hansjoerg Kretschmer, Head of the European Commission Delegation to Afghanistan.

The completion of the Khanabad irrigation system will greatly enhance agricultural productivity in the area and reduce the significant losses the farmers face presently when their traditional irrigation intakes are destroyed during every major flood, several times a year. It will contribute to the reduction of rural poverty and to the improvement of food security.

The Khanabad project had been identified decades ago by the Government of Afghanistan as crucial for the development of an important agricultural region. Works were started with World Bank funding but abandoned in the late 1970’s having reached an 80% rate of completion. The present project includes the completion and rehabilitation works for the barrage and the canals.

The Khanabad Irrigation Scheme Rehabilitation consists of a barrage of 4.5 m height and 160 m length with 13 spillway gates, two main canals with a total length of 26 km and an extensive network of secondary canals providing irrigation water to a total of 35 thousand hectares of farmland.

Four of five construction lots have been assigned to Afghan companies:
Lot 1 Rehabilitation of Khanabad Barrage and Flood Protection Works – Civil Works Will be executed by Gowharrud International Construction Co. (Iran) in 21 months (€6,34 million)

Lot 2 Rehabilitation of Khanabad Barrage and Main Canal Structures – Mechanical and Electrical Works By Kabul–Behsud Construction Co. (Afghanistan) in 21 months (€1,3 million)

Lot 3 Rehabilitation of Left Bank Main Canal and Structures – Km 0 to Km 7 By US–Afghan Consultants and Construction Co. (Afghansitan) in 18 months (€1,1 million)

Lot 4 Rehabilitation of Left Bank Main Canal and Structures – Km 7 to Km 18 By Omulblad Engineering Group (Afghansitan) in 18 months (€0,8 million)

Lot 5 Rehabilitation of Right Bank Main Canal and Structures – Km 0 to Km 8.2 By Kabul–Behsud Construction Co. (Afghanistan) in 18 months (€0,47 million).

The project funding includes €1,2 million for engineering supervision and €0,8 million for the Social Water Management component involving the local communities.

Background
The European Commission has been engaged with the reconstruction of Afghanistan since 2001 and had by end 2006 committed the €1 billion aid pledged for Afghanistan in Berlin and Tokyo donor conferences for the period 2002-06. More than 80% of the total €1 billion has already been disbursed, demonstrating that the European Commission is not only strongly committed to Afghanistan, but fulfilling its commitments efficiently. The European Commission pledged another €610 million to continue supporting the Afghanistan reconstruction during the years 2007-2010, concentrating on the priority areas of Governance, Health and Rural development.

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union (EU). The European Commission and the 27 Member States of the European Union have pledged together €3,7 billion in aid to Afghanistan over five years (2002-2006), more than one third of the aid pledged by the international community. At the London Conference in spring 2006, the EU pledged collectively a further €2 billion for reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan over the coming years.