Crediting PM Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the completion of Salma Dam in Afghanistan, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti today said, “While the India-Afghanistan Friendship dam was under construction for many years, I appreciate the urgency in its completion that was shown by PM Modi and Sushma Swaraj.”
“During Cabinet meetings, the one person who always spoke highly of Wapcos and the Salma Dam project to PM Modi, was Sushma Swaraj,” Uma Bharti said.
At a felicitation ceremony organised by Wapcos in honour of people who were behind the Salma Dam project, Bharti appreciated the friendship between the two countries. “PM Modi has always said that the two biggest threats to the world are terrorism and climate change. He says that the solution to terrorism is Sufism, and the place where this dam has been built is the land of Sufis.”
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Salma Dam, which was inaugurated by PM Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani earlier this month, has been built by Wapcos, an Indian Mini Ratna I.
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. It also has a provision for releasing water for irrigation of 75,000 hectares of land.
At over $275 million, this is the most expensive of India’s infrastructure projects in the region.
