A report based on the findings of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis said that the completion of the Qosh Tapa canal could reduce the amount of water to neighbouring countries by a fifth, Afintl.af reports.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have expressed concern over the completion of the project due to its reliance on Amu Darya.
In its report, the research institute wrote that "the challenges [of Qosh Tepe] are very serious, while countries are facing uncertainties”.
The report, published by BBC World, addresses concerns about the pace of construction of the project and doubts about sufficient expertise in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to carry out such a major project.
The environmental organisation Rivers Without Borders, after analysing satellite imagery, also reported that there appeared to have been a significant spill from the canal.
However, Zabihullah Amiri, the project's chief engineer, believes that concerns about the canal's high consumption of water from the Amu River are unfounded. "We can say that this is not a big problem and it will not affect the stability of water resources in other areas," he told the BBC.
The project to build the Qush Tappa Canal was first proposed in the 1970s with the aim of greening Afghanistan's arid north, but it was postponed due to decades of conflict in the country.
The previous Afghan government blamed the Taliban's activity for the slow implementation of the project, but the Taliban has now proudly made it one of their priorities and hope that it will be operational by 2028.
According to the Taliban's estimates, the construction of this project will cost more than $600 million, and once completed, it will provide fresh water to the three northern provinces of Afghanistan.
The report added that due to climate change and recent droughts, its construction has accelerated.
The Taliban say that the construction of the canal could turn 5,000 square kilometers of dry land into fertile soils. The group claims that this measure could improve food security and livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of people.
Abdul Mobin, a farmer, told BBC World that even if the canal is not completed, the amount of groundwater leaking from it has irrigated enough land for him to cultivate again. "I want to build a house for my family here, because we will have water and we will plant and grow everything we need on this land, from tomatoes to fruits and even oilseeds," he says, hoping to build the canal.
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Вусуьиук 4б 2024