Eyewitness: When Kabul lights go dim

Power shortages are just one aspect of deprivation

By Terence White in Afghanistan

Electricity failures in Kabul are common enough these days.

To cover the demand in Kabul city we have to implement load-shedding

Ghulam Rabbani, Kabul power engineer

They remind me of the gloomy times a decade ago when I could only function as a wire-service correspondent with the aid of a diesel generator to provide necessary power.

That was because the constant rocket barrages on the Afghan capital had destroyed much of the city grid.

Or because some warlord had shut down the turbines, or sabotaged the pylons that fed power to the city from the provincial hydro-electric stations.

These days, electricity in Kabul is rationed.

That is because the three main hydro-electric power stations on the Kabul River some 75 kilometres east of the capital are not running to maximum capacity.

Cold and drought

"The peak requirement for Kabul could easily be met by the hydro-electricity generators except the dams don't hold enough water," explained Engineer Ghulam Rabbani.

Meagre facilities for a growing population

Mr Rabbani is the head of the planning department of the Ministry of Water and Power.

He said that, due to the lingering cold weather this spring, the mountain snow in the Hindu Kush was not melting as fast as usual, hence the empty dams.

"Coupled with the effects of a long and troublesome drought, we cannot meet the power demand," added Engineer Rabbani.

In addition to hydro-electricity, Kabul possesses two diesel generators which could make up the shortfall of power - but there is no fuel.

In any case, said Mr Rabbani, one of these generators was badly damaged in a rocket attack and is still out of commission.

"So, to cover the demand in Kabul city we have to implement load-shedding," he said.

To put this problem into even bleaker perspective, Mr Rabbani pointed out that less than 50% of the Afghan capital is connected to this limited supply of electricity.

The Loya Jirgah will take the country forward

This means that, even for the lucky half of the population that is connected to the Kabul grid, the power supply is neither consistent nor stable.

For foreign news agencies with fixed schedules for live satellite transmissions around the globe, generators are once again a must.

But for Afghan residents, this means periodic blackouts.

Some residents are not at all convinced that the Afghan Ministry of Water and Power is giving them a fair deal.

In a local newspaper called the Kabul Weekly, an Afghan reporter recently demanded to know why "for the time being electricity works only for the rich and fancy houses" and not "for the poor people who are unable to buy fuel for their lamps."

Civilians "come last"

Kabul Weekly alleged that "only commanders and rich people have light 24 hours a day", with electrical wiring "sometimes masked as telephone cables" to allay the suspicions of less fortunate neighbours.

Meanwhile, the war goes on

Ministry officials rebutted these allegations.

But they did say that indeed, there was a preferential system for electricity supply.

The top priority was for the president's palace, ministries, hospitals, the airport and embassies.

The second priority was for international organisations, diplomats and high-level government officials.

Civilians came last.

Donor deficiencies

The problem of insufficient power supply is one that affects the whole of Afghanistan.

In the eastern provincial capital, Jalalabad, only one out of three turbines in the Darunta Dam is working.

The northern capital of Mazar-i-Sharif imports electricity from neighbouring Uzbekistan.

Foreign energy experts and company representatives have visited the Ministry of Water and Power in Kabul to offer business deals aimed at boosting the electricity infrastructure of the country.

A member of the British House of Lords was among them.

The lack of money from donor nations is the main stumbling block to resurrecting Afghanistan's power supply.

This problem is no doubt exacerbated by security concerns related to the al-Qaeda terrorist group, which has yet to be uprooted from the country.