US Congress Allocated $31 million for Daronta Dam Repairs

Nangarhar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai announced in a news conference that the US Congress has allocated USD 31mn for repairing three turbines at the Daronta Dam.

Afghan government would pay 10% of the cost of the project.

Mr. Sherzai has donated USD 500,000 from the Sherzai Foundation and he promised that he would request President Karzai and Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal for the remaining USD 2.5mn.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) assured the governor that bids would be called for the turbines’ repairs in 45 days.

The governor assured that the bidding and the implementation process would be transparent, as representatives of courts, prosecution office and National Directorate of Security (NDS) would monitor it.

Darunta Dam was constructed by Soviet Union (USSR) companies in 1964 and its power station contains three vertical Kaplan turbines (6 blade propeller) with a rated output of 3.85 MW each. Originally, the dam supplied 40 to 45 megawatts of electrical power but silting and damage to the system during the Afghan civil war was has reduced its actual output to 11.5 megawatts.