Key bridge on Kunar River inaugurated

ASADABAD/LASHKARGAH (PAN): A 330 metres long bridge on the Kunar River was inaugurated in Sawakai district of the eastern province on Sunday.

Governor Syed Fazlullah Wahidi, inaugurating the 10-metre wide bridge, said the USAID-funded project accounted for $4.5 million (222 million afghanis). The bridge took three years to complete.

As many as 350 people worked on the project for three years, according to the governor, who hoped the bridge would play a key role in promoting transit trade with neighbouring Pakistan.

Wahidi called the bridge, with 13 pillars, the largest in the eastern zone. He said the span had the capacity to absorb a weight of 400 tonnes.

A Wolesi Jirga Shahzada Shahid, said thousands of families in Qazi Banda and Hakimabad areas would benefit from the project.

Also on Sunday, a newly-built bridge was inaugurated in the Greshk district of southern Helmand province. The seven-metre wide bridge links the Baizo village with the main district bazaar.

Daud Ahmadi, the governor’s spokesman, said the 50-metre long bridge was built by International Security Assistance Force troops in six months.

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