Afghanistan's Capital Mostly in the Dark
Afghanistan's Capital Mostly in the Dark
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 22, 12:18 PM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - For 12-year-old Kefaya Nabi, the worst thing about not having electricity in her home is not being able to watch her favorite Bollywood soap opera on TV.
The concerns of her 50-year-old shopkeeper father, Ghulam, are more serious: How will he heat their tiny house? How can his four children study without light? How will his wife cook?
Such worries are common for many people in the Afghan capital. Some 40 percent of Kabul's 4 million residents don't have access to the electric grid, Deputy Energy Minister Mohammed Amin Munsif says.
Foreign donors have spent billions of dollars rebuilding infrastructure since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. But progress has been especially slow in restoring electricity, with almost all power lines and power stations destroyed during a quarter century of war.
High-voltage lines are being built to connect the city with hydroelectric dams in Uzbekistan, about 190 miles over rugged mountains to the north. But they aren't expected to be up for two more years.
For now, those in Kabul who can afford it rely on small, diesel-fueled generators.
Others buy electricity from neighborhood businessmen who use big, noisy and polluting machines to power a few homes.
One hundred afghani, or about $2, buy enough electricity to run a single lamp for four hours a night. Enough power to run a TV costs $5 — a significant sum in a city where a policeman's salary is around $50 a month.
Link here
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 22, 12:18 PM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - For 12-year-old Kefaya Nabi, the worst thing about not having electricity in her home is not being able to watch her favorite Bollywood soap opera on TV.
The concerns of her 50-year-old shopkeeper father, Ghulam, are more serious: How will he heat their tiny house? How can his four children study without light? How will his wife cook?
Such worries are common for many people in the Afghan capital. Some 40 percent of Kabul's 4 million residents don't have access to the electric grid, Deputy Energy Minister Mohammed Amin Munsif says.
Foreign donors have spent billions of dollars rebuilding infrastructure since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. But progress has been especially slow in restoring electricity, with almost all power lines and power stations destroyed during a quarter century of war.
High-voltage lines are being built to connect the city with hydroelectric dams in Uzbekistan, about 190 miles over rugged mountains to the north. But they aren't expected to be up for two more years.
For now, those in Kabul who can afford it rely on small, diesel-fueled generators.
Others buy electricity from neighborhood businessmen who use big, noisy and polluting machines to power a few homes.
One hundred afghani, or about $2, buy enough electricity to run a single lamp for four hours a night. Enough power to run a TV costs $5 — a significant sum in a city where a policeman's salary is around $50 a month.
Link here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 4:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home