Is there enough water in the Kamal Khan Dam to flow towards Iran?
Is there enough water in the Kamal Khan Dam to flow towards Iran?
The Etilaatroz Daily claimed in a June 6 report that water from the Kajaki Dam has reached the Kamal Khan Dam and has been released towards Iran. The newspaper has written this report based on information from an undisclosed source.
Chalawsaf has found that this report is incorrect and contains misinformation.
Fact-checking
Official sources and at least three journalists in Helmand and Nimruz provinces, as well as some residents and officials in the Nimruz province, have told Chalawsaf that there is not enough water flowing towards Iran. An official in the Kamal Khan Dam stated that there is a limited amount of water in the dam, and it is not enough to be released through its canals.
Images taken on Thursday June 8 from the Lashkari canal in the city of Zaranj, Nimruz province, indicate that water has not reached the canal in recent days, and everywhere is dry and waterless.
Why the Nahr-e Lashkari canal?
Kamal Khan has four main canals – Lashkari, Tarakhun, Qala-e-Afzal, Zarkan and Zorkan. Among them, the Nahr-e Lashkari canal is main canal of the Kamal Khan Dam that provides water to Zaranj city. If water is released from the Kamal Khan Dam, it will always reach Nahr-e Lashkari.
On June 8, when Chalawsaf inspected parts of the Nahr-e Lashkari canal in the outskirts of Zaranj city, it found that water has not reached the river in days.
Furthermore, farmers and landowners near the Nahr-e Lashkari canal state that due to the persistent lack of water in the river, their crops have been ruined.
Dependency on the Helmand River
Helmand River is one of the main rivers in Afghanistan. Around 25% of Afghanistan’s population depends on it, and the Helmand Basin covers more than 40% of the country. On the other side of the border in Iran, less than 1% of Iran’s population is dependent on the Helmand River.
Sources:
Chalawsaf has verified this report by verifying with three official sources, three journalists in the provinces of Helmand and Nimruz, and several residents of Nimruz province.
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