Afghanistan commits to Iran’s water rights but faces its own shortages: Mansoor

The Ministry of Energy and Water said Saturday that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is committed to Iran’s water rights, but Afghanistan itself does not have enough water.

Abdul Latif Mansoor, acting Minister of Energy and Water emphasized that the right to water is not a simple issue that can be easily understood and it is necessary to install water measuring tools.

“One way to manage water depends on the government, so the technical team of the Ministry of Energy and Water are trying their best day and night on how to control the shortage of water, and the other way to manage water relates to the people,” said Mansoor.

Mansoor, however, said that they have proposed three plans to the leadership of the Islamic Emirate to solve the problems, including the development budget, water and hydro electric dams.

On the other hand, the lack of water in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is considered a serious problem.

Ministry of Energy and Water officials said that technical teams are working day and night to find out how to manage the underground water.

According to officials, the project of transferring water from Panjshir river to Kabul will start soon.

Based on the statistics provided by the ministry, 80 percent of farmers have dealt with the drought.

Moreover, acting energy minister has asked the international community to support public projects in Afghanistan.

Mansoor further added that the former government had not paid more than $35 million in electricity debts to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.

In addition, Mansoor has stressed that they are trying to integrate energy, water and electricity institutions into one institution, adding that the budget of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) was allocated for other institutions in the previous government and some of the projects of this ministry remained incomplete.