The Salma Dam, officially named Afghan-India Friendship Dam, is an

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

located on the Hari River in Chishti Sharif District of

Herat Province Herat ( Dari: هرات) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city a ...

in western

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It has a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

that produces 42 MW of electricity in addition to providing irrigation for of farmland. The Salma Dam was opened on 4 June 2016 by former Afghan President

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan former politician and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was 2021 Taliban offensive, overthrown by the Ta ...

along with Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

History

Feasibility reports for the construction of a dam in Chesti-e-Sharif district were prepared in 1957. In 1976, an Afghan firm was tasked with construction of the dam. The firm appointed Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Ltd (WAPCOS), a company owned by the Indian Ministry of Water Resources, to construct the dam. The

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

in 1979 halted work on the project. WAPCOS attempted to continue construction on the dam in 1988, but the project was left incomplete again due to the ongoing instability. In 2006, India committed to funding the completion of the Salma Dam at an estimated cost of US$ 275 million. In January 2013, the Indian cabinet approved revised cost of ₹ 1,457 crores (US$ 273.3 million) for the completion of the project and declared it would be completed in December 2014, or two years behind the previous schedule. On 26 July 2015, the dam began to impound its reservoir. The dam was inaugurated on 4 June 2016 by Indian Prime Minister

along with former Afghan President Mohammad

. Indian public sector power equipment manufacturer

BHEL Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking and the largest government-owned electrical/ industrial technology company. It is owned by the Government of India, with administrative control under ...

played an instrumental role in the execution of the project by successfully commissioning two 14MW units for the dam.

Incidents

During the construction of the dam, some Afghans alleged that politicians in Iran were attempting to stop work on the dam project, which would reduce the flow of river water into neighbouring

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. According to the local

Afghan National Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ; ), also known as the Afghan Police, is the national police force of the Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The first police officer i ...

of the area, the Iranian government is funding local

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

members to oppose construction of the dam. In 2009, a parliamentarian from

Kabul Province Kabul (Dari/Pashto: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is ...

, Najibullah Kabuli accused Iran of interfering in the construction of the Salma Dam. When the governor of Chishti Sharif District, Abdulqudus Qayam, was killed along with five security officials in mid-January 2010, the Afghan media called it an insurgent attack. The Taliban accepted responsibility, but many in Herat saw it as part of a wider problem the province is having with Iran. Qayam had been instrumental in pushing the construction of the dam. In March 2013, the then-

National Directorate of Security The National Directorate of Security (NDS; ; ) was the national intelligence agency, intelligence and security agency, security service of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The headquarters of the NDS was in Kabul, and it had field offices and ...

(NDS) claimed that Taliban's Quetta Shura attempted to blow up the Salma Dam with of explosives. According to NDS spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri, " Mullah Abdul Ghani, a member of the Quetta Shura who plans suicide attacks, was behind the conspiracy". The explosives were discovered in a deserted area of the Pashtun Zarghun District of Herat Province, which were smuggled into the area from

Balochistan, Pakistan Balochistan (; ; , ) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Khybe ...

. One person by the name of Sayed Gul was arrested. Several other unsuccessful attacks have been reported in the following years.

References

External links

* (Ariana News, Nov. 7, 2024)
''The Amazing Indian Story Behind Herat’s Salma Dam'' - thewire.in
{{Dams and reservoirs in Afghanistan Dams in Afghanistan Hydroelectric power stations in Afghanistan Buildings and structures in Herat Province Afghanistan–India relations Dams completed in 2016 2016 establishments in Afghanistan Dam controversies Rock-filled dams

History

Incidents

See also

References

External links