cable- The Afghan Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdel -Ghani Bradar called during his visit to Uzbekistan at the head of a government delegation of the Uzbek authorities to invest in building the second Salink tunnel, and to enhance economic, political and security relations.
During his meeting with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullah Arehouf, Bradar stressed that the tunnel will play a major role in expanding economic and commercial relations between South Asia and Central Asia.
“We discussed with the Uzbek authorities with economic cooperation and offered it to invest in building the Salink tunnel, because it connects South Asia to the center of Asia,” said Afghan Minister of Trade Noureddine Azizi to Al -Jazeera Net.
“We are trying to break the geographical isolation by building roads and linking the country to Central Asia, and we are trying to reduce dependence on the crossings with Pakistan,” the minister added.
Lifeline
Afghan historians say, the idea of connecting the north of the country to its south appeared through a highway during the reign of Prince Sheri Ali Khan (1868-1879), where the Salink tunnel north of the capital, Kabul, is located at an altitude of 3950 meters above sea level, and its length is 2.7 km.
Work began to build the tunnel in 1955 by order of the late King Muhammad Zahir Shah and ended in 1964, in cooperation with the Soviet Union. Its height is 5 meters and a width of 6 meters.
The cost of building the tunnel was 636 million dollars, and led to a short distance between northern Afghanistan and its south by 110 kilometers. The Afghans were moving from the north of the country to the south through 5 rugged roads.
According to the official figures in the Ministry of Communications, the tunnel accommodated about 600 cars daily and in 1973 due to the installation of ventilation machines amounted to 2000 cars per day.
The tunnel remained open to the movement of transport and traffic naturally until 1993, and its role was decisive in the occupation of Afghanistan by the former Soviet forces in 1979.
“After the outbreak of the civil wars, the tunnel witnessed the battles and clashes between the forces of Ahmed Shah Masoud and the Uzbek commander Abdul Rashid Dostum, and a large part of the tunnel was destroyed.”
He added, “In 1998, the northern coalition forces detonated the tunnel entrance to prevent the Taliban forces from progressing, and the tunnel rehabilitation work began after 2002 in cooperation with the World Bank, but it still needs maintenance.”
Businessmen who use the Salink tunnel, which was built in 1964, sees a dilapidated and dangerous situation for travelers due to insufficient ventilation, bad lighting and lack of modern safety features.
The Salink Tunnel is the only way to allow the passage of goods and people from north to south throughout the year through the Hindukush mountain range, with a height of more than 7700 meters.
The tunnel thus is the second highest tunnel in the world, and as one of the main ways in the field of regional economic cooperation for Central Asia is also a hub to provide movement ability to the countries adjacent to Afghanistan.
The economist, Sami Allah, Karimi, told Al -Jazeera Net: “The Salink tunnel is an important part of the infrastructure of transportation in Afghanistan, and the Afghan government must take care of it because it is a lifeline, and in addition to linking the Afghan states, it is considered a bridge between South Asia and its center, and its role in developing trade with Central Asian countries is not hidden.”
New tunnel
Due to the absence of alternative methods, the vast majority of goods that are shipped to a cable from the north pass through the Salink tunnel. It is estimated that more than 5,500 cars of various forms cross the tunnel daily, which exceeds its ability.
According to the American Agency for International Development, the economic losses caused by the flow of traffic restricted by about $ 60 million annually.
In 2012, the American Agency for International Development conducted a technical study of a new tunnel that runs from the state of Brown to the Doshekh region in the state of Baghlan in northern Afghanistan, which passes through the mountains of Hinduocouche, beyond the current tunnel, and the study led to a shortening distance of about 40 kilometers compared to the current tunnel and road.
The former Afghan government announced the preparation of a plan and design of the second tunnel, but it did not succeed in implementing the project for economic and security reasons, and the financial ministry said in 2020 that the total cost of building the second tunnel requires 129 million US dollars, and Japan promised to provide 92 million, to be completed in about 7 years.
“Afghanistan needs a new tunnel, because the Salink tunnel is one of the important ways to communicate with Central Asia, and it is currently using it more than 5 thousand cars per day. It is expected that this number will increase to 20 thousand cars per day over the next 30 years.”
“The new tunnel is important for many reasons, the most important of which is that it will shorten the road compared to the first tunnel, and countries like Pakistan and India use Afghan lands to reach the Central Asian markets.”
The second or new tunnel represents the main connection between the south and the north of Afghan, as the travel period reduces 72 to 10 hours and provides about 300 kilometers from the distance between the capital, Kabul and the northern states.
Therefore, the current Afghan government pays great attention to reforming the previous tunnel and building the new as a strategic project between South Asia and Central Asia by land.
