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AfghAn VillAges Bolstered By Micro-

hydro Power PlAnt

dAi su s

dAi

7600 Wisconsin Avenue

Suite 200

Bethesda, Maryland 20814

USA

Tel: +1 301 771 7600

Fax: +1 301 771 7777

www.dai.com

Empowering communities to improve living conditions andcreate jobs

Livelihoods do not come easily or those living in

the oothills o the Hindu Kush. The ew roads are

rough and hard to travel, and homes and shops

in many villages go dark ater sundown or lack o

electricity.

Families in eastern Aghanistan have also been

orced to live with war. Those in provinces such as

Nangarhar, which shares a border with Pakistan

and its tribal areas, live each day under the threato violence.

Prospects are improving, however, or people in

the village o Dodarek in Nangarhars Dare Noor

district. A mountain stream runs through the vil-

lage, and though it is only a ew eet wide, its wa-

ter is powerul. Now, thanks to a DAI-led project,

some o the water rom the stream ows through

a turbine that creates electricity or homes and

shops.

This project is a blessing to the people o this

Energy harnessed rom the stream provides elec-

tricity or 150 households in Dodarak, Dodailak,

and Gorkhal villages, over an area o 2.5 square

kilometers. Families use their new electricity or

lighting and or electrical appliances such as

rerigerators. The plant also powers six shops that

sell ood, cold drinks, and other staples.

ADP/Es micro-hydro programs are designed

to support broader community and economicgrowth; in act, the supplementary benefts are

central to the model and provide added value with

minimal added cost.

As the Dodarak micro-hydro power plant came

together, or example, local residents organized

the labor eorts and took a personal stake in the

project. They learned the skills needed to main-

tain the plant while earning money to uel the local

economy. All the while, ADP/E engineers and

managers engaged shura members to respond to

the communitys interests and needs.

village, said Mir Alam

Khan, the head o

Dodaraks tribal shura,

or village council. The

economy o the community

has improved, and I am sure

more signifcant, positive

changes will occur.

On April 6, 2009, mem-

bers o Dare Noor District

Development Assembly,

elders o Dodarak village,and representatives rom

the U.S. Agency or Interna-

tional Development-unded

Alternative Development

ProgramEastern Region

(ADP/E), gathered to open

a 60-kilowatt micro-hydro

power plant driven by the

stream.

.

Photos courtesy o ADP/E.

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DAIAdvancing Human Prosperity

05.09

The plant is designed to expand: it has the capac-

ity to power 600 more households and provide

electricity or private sector growth. A strawberry

jam actory, our mill, medium-scale textile ac-

tory, and carpentry acilityeach powered by

electricity rom the streamwill soon open in

Dodarak, creating more than 100 jobs. Shops

or sewing and selling ice cream will also open.

Indeed, the strategic planning that supported the

project has spawned additional business plan-

ning and goal setting within Dodarak and nearby

communities.

The Dodarak micro-hydro plant cost roughly

US$107,000including $17,000 or local labor

to engineer and build. I designed appropriately,

such run-o-the-river plants have no adverseimpacts on water resources, aquatic lie, or

the environment. A portion o the water rom

the stream is diverted through the turbine, and

sometimes small water storage areas are needed

to ensure consistent ow and power production.

Additional micro-hydro plants can be placed up or

downstream, harnessing the power o the same

water many times over.

About 160 micro-hydro plants have been installed

in Aghanistan in recent years. The Dodarak proj-

ect was conceived by Aghan experts, and ater

technical easibility and economic viability sur-veys, the plant was designed by Aghan engineers

working or USAIDs ADP/E, then manuactured in

Lahore, Pakistan.

The micro-hydro plant in Dodarak is designed

and built in compliance with international stan-

dards or micro-hydro power, said Ziauddin Zaib,

an engineer and micro-hydro expert in Jalalabad.

I expect the lie o the plant to be 40 years.

Electricity is not ree, however, and the Com-

munity Development Council (CDC) o Dodarak

village has implemented a transparent system

or managing electricity accounts. Each am-

ily pays three Aghanis, and each business fve

Aghanis, or one kilowatt hour o electricity. The

CDC collects the money, which is used to pay the

power plant technicians and maintain the plant. I

revenue exceeds regular expenses, the CDC can

allocate unds or other development projects in

the village.