Salma Dam, Herat Dam or Afghan-India Friendship Dam – call it by any name, but this major infrastructure project, inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in Afghanistan is special for many reasons. For one, the Salma Dam is the most expensive of India’s infrastructure projects in the region – at over $275 million. For another, that the dam is being seen as a sign of hope to bring economic prosperity to the region. The successful completion of the project represents culmination of years of hard work by 1,500 Indian and Afghan engineers and other professionals in very difficult conditions, says Ministry of Water Resources. (Image by WAPCOS)
The Rs 1,775 crore project took more than ten years to complete. The Salma Dam has been built by WAPCOS, an Indian "mini-ratna I". (Image by WAPCOS)
Situated on the upper reaches of Hari Rud River in Herat province, Salma Dam project involved construction of a 107.5 meter high earth and rock–fill dam and a 42 MW power house with three units of 14 MW each. (Image by WAPCOS)
It also has a provision for releasing water for irrigation of 75,000 hectares of land. The reservoir water spreads about 20 km in length and 3.7 km in width. The gross capacity of the Dam is 633 million m3. (Image by WAPCOS)
The height of the Dam is 104.3 metre, length 540 metre and width at the bottom is 450 metre. The project is located 165 km east of Herat town and connected with earthen road. (Image by WAPCOS)
Behind the story of how the Salma Dam was built lie extraordinary sacrifices by ordinary Indians and Afghans — extraordinary sacrifices of sweat and blood, tied together by an extraordinary history. In 2010, the district governor was assassinated by the Taliban and, the next year, a group of engineers was targeted. For Afghan staff, conditions were even more brutal, says Praveen Swami, in an Indian Express article. Afghanistan’s intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, also blamed the Taliban for a March 2013 attempt to blow up the Salma Dam with 1,300 kg of explosives, he says. (Image by WAPCOS)
Due to security reasons Indian engineers and technicians involved with the project have been reaching the site once in a month by helicopter service provided by Government of Afghanistan. (Image by WAPCOS)
All equipment and material were transported from India to Bander-e-Abbas port of Iran via sea and then along 1200 km by road from there to Islam Kila border post at Iran-Aghanistan border and then further 300 km by road from the border post to the site. (Image by WAPCOS)
Cement, steel reinforcement, explosives etc. were imported to Afghanistan from neighboring countries. (Image by WAPCOS)
The availability of power and water through the project will lead to the overall economic development of the western region of Afghanistan. It will address the energy requirements and irrigation needs of western Afghanistan. (Image by WAPCOS)
