Page 91

64 power house, with a 38 metre drop. There are no plans for expansion of this plant. However, when the Sarobi plant (see below) is completed, power from the Jabal Seraj plant will be used for textile and cement plants, and the 220 volt transmission will be left intact to handle Kabul in an emergency. Sarobi Hydro-Electric Plant: This is situated on the Kabul river, approximately 45 miles east of Kabul and about 55 miles southeast of Gulbahar. Construction began in 1951, and it was completed by the middle of 1957. The dam is 80 feet high, with a 3,700 metre long tunnel leading to a four-and-a-half metre steel-lined flume, with a drop of 170 feet. This plant provides 11,000 kw for Kabul and another 11,000 kw for Gul Bahar Textile Mills. Original cost of the Sarobi installations was 500,000,000 Afghanis. Future plans for Sarobi envisage the construction of a dam six miles upstream from Dam No. 1, by means of which more water and better control will be obtained, generating 60,000 kw and increasing the capacities of the three power plants to 44,000 kw each, making a total of 190,000 kw. This, however, will take years to complete. With the initial phase completed, Kabul now gets 11,000 kw from Sarobi and 3,300 kw from Chak-i-Wardak, or a maximum of 14,300 kw. There is also a plan to build a dam on the Panjsher river, near Gul Bahar. This will give an addition of 13,000 kw. Kandahar Electric Plant: The present capacity for Kandahar is only 250 kw and operates 4 hours a day. The Woolen Mills also generate 275 kw and shares this power for electric lighting in the city. It is planned that a power plant at the Arghandab Dam, 25 miles north of Kandahar will supply some 6,500 kw of electricity.