- Writer, Firuz Rahimi
- Name the person who wrote the story, BBC World Service in Northern Afghanistan
More than 100 meters wide and stretching as far as the eye can see, the massive construction project run by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan is a major sight to behold.
Part of his mission is to do something that is against the resolutions of the party, which took power in 2021 – the fight against climate change.
Costing more than $600 million and spanning 285 kilometers when completed, the Qosh Tepa Aqueduct will bring much-needed water to three provinces in northern Afghanistan.
This massive project will not only deal with climate change in the existing agricultural areas, but also aims to turn 5,000 square kilometers of dry land into fertile agricultural land.
The Taliban hopes to improve the food situation and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Original image, AP
The group’s concern about climate change caught the attention of the world when many delegates arrived at the COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan.
While most of the world rejected them, the Taliban were allowed to attend the conference because of the dire problems facing Afghanistan.
The country is listed as one of the ten most vulnerable and least prepared to deal with climate change.
At the conference, the Taliban demanded that the international community, which suspended funding for climate change projects when the group took power, to return their funding.
Matuil Haq Khalis, the head of Afghanistan’s environmental protection agency, told reporters that, “We hope that at the end of this meeting, a solution will be found for the activities that have been suspended in Afghanistan.”
The Qosh Tepa Canal is one of the few nature-related projects that continue to run.
It was funded and operated by the Taliban government without any external assistance and is progressing rapidly with more than 100 kilometers already built.
It is a project that will cost a lot of money for the country, whose economy has shrunk by more than 2 percent since the union took power and where more than 90 percent of the people live in poverty.
The program was started in the 1970s, with the aim of stopping the drought in northern Afghanistan. The project has been suspended for several years, mostly due to the long-standing conflicts in the country.
The previous government blamed the slow progress of the project on the activities of the Taliban in the area.
The threat from climate change has made the drainage urgently needed.
Haji Rajab is one of those who need this help.
He has farmed near the aqueduct in Aqcha District, Jawzijan Province, all his life, but the spring water he depends on continues to dwindle.
Cultivating dry land in one of his farms, the 70-year-old farmer said the area has been suffering from drought for three years and there are no crops here.
“People are struggling. They don’t have enough money and the drought has put them in dire straits,” he said.
In a country where over 80% of the population depends on agriculture, this is a huge problem – over 12 million people are suffering from severe food insecurity.
But Afghanistan is not the only one in the region that is suffering from climate change. The water will come from the Amu River which passes through the northern border of Afghanistan and goes to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Manohar Parrikar, a leading security think tank, has warned that when the canal becomes fully operational, it could reduce the amount of water delivered to neighboring countries by one-fifth.
As Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan depend heavily on the Amu River for agriculture, they have expressed concern over the project’s drainage.
A report released by the center said: “The situation continues to worsen as the countries face uncertainty.”
Concerns have also been expressed about the speed at which the project is being implemented and whether there are enough experts in Afghanistan to complete such a massive project without outside help.
The environmental group ‘Rivers Without Borders’ reports that there has already been a major spill from the river according to their analysis of satellite images.
Officials in Afghanistan have said that this massive project is progressing as it should and will be completed on time in 2028.
Zabihullah Miri is a senior engineer and has previously worked with several international organizations on major civil engineering projects in the country.
He believes that the concern being expressed about the water that the canal will divert from the Amu River is unwarranted.
“We can say that it is not a big issue and it will not affect the water that other areas get,” he said.
Many people in Afghanistan hope that will be the case.
Abdul Mobin’s family has been cultivating one farm in Dawalatbad district, Balkh province for many years.
But in the last three years nothing could be planted because of the drought.
Even though the aqueduct was not completed, the water in the ground that was bubbling up in it watered his farm until he started farming again.
For the 37-year-old farmer, who supports his wife, three children and his daughter-in-law, this is a life-changing event.
“I want to build a house for my family, I want to come back here and live,” he said. “Because we will have water and we will farm and grow everything we need in this land, from tomatoes to fruits.”
As the threat of climate change continues to grow, there is little hope for this massive project.
