Qush Tepa Canal in Balkh province has been accelerated and the mega project is expected to be completed before the scheduled date.

Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)_Monitoring, The canal — 280 kilometers long and 100 meters wide — will irrigate 500,000 hectares of land in Balkh, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces.

The 60 billion afs project is being executed by the Afghanistan National Development Company and the entire fund for the project is provided from the national revenue.

Local officials in Balkh province say work on the project was started from the Qush Tepa area and completed till Dawlatabad district. Forty-two kilometers of the project has been constructed.

Mawlavi Abdul Hakeem Hikmat, head of the Northern River Zone, said 120 private companies and around 2,300 people were involved in the construction of the canal.

He said the canal has the capacity of carrying 650 cubic meters water in one second and it would resolve the water shortage issue in Balkh, Jawzjan and Fayab provinces.

Eng. FaridAzeem, provincial in charge of the project, said the Qush Tepa Canal project was of vital importance for Afghanistan and said the country would become self-reliant in terms of agriculture products once the project was completed.

Balkh Governor Qudratullah Abu Hamza said work on the construction of Qush Tepa Canal was underway, adding that the project would be completed before its scheduled date. Work on the project was launched in the beginning of the current solar year.