Over a year after India handed over the strategic Zaranj-Delaram highway to Afghanistan, concerns have risen in New Delhi after reports that terror elements have damaged key sections of the road, destroying important culverts and making it extremely difficult for traffic to ply.
While senior Afghanistan government functionaries have on occasions told Indian interlocutors that the road has helped boost the economy of Zaranj town, reports from local commanders to Indian officials in the area have been discouraging.
What is broadly confirmed, sources said, is that certain culverts at important places have been destroyed. As a result, water from streams that had been channelled are now flowing over the road. At these places, vehicular traffic has slowed down. Any further damage may put the entire 218-km road out of use.
This strategic road was one of the first key projects India undertook after the ouster of Taliban and was part of a larger Indo-Iranian understanding to ensure connectivity to Chabahar port in Iran. While the road has come up, work on Chabahar port is still to take off. As a result, the utility of the road has not grown beyond providing important local connectivity.
This project was always a target of terror groups, including the Taliban who are active in neighbouring Helmand. Six Indians and over 100 Afghans were killed in attacks during construction of the road, built at a cost of $136 million by the Border Roads Organisation. Sources pointed out that those against the project have clearly not given up their efforts.
From a technical standpoint, South Block officials argue that India?s task was to build the road and maintenance is now the responsibility of the Afghanistan public works department. Equipment worth millions of dollars, used in the project, have been donated to Afghan authorities and India also trained many engineers for maintenance works.
At the same time, the Nimroz province, of which Zaranj is the capital, has seen a spurt in Taliban activity. With attacks increasing in Helmand, reports indicate that Taliban fighters have shifted bases to this province. This development, sources said, does not augur well as this road could now face more attacks.