KUDUZ CITY (PAN): Some traders from Kunduz on Monday asked the government to extend the proposed railway line to Tajikistan through the northern province.
If the railroad passed through the Sher Khan dry port, its revenue would increase and big traders would be encouraged to invest in the province, said one of the businessmen, Nasrullah.
In the previous agreement, the railroad was to link the Khulam district of Balkh with Tajikistan through the Sher Khan port.
But the new contract railway line stretches to Tajikistan through the Kaldar district of Balkh, explained the governor’s spokesman, Inayatullah Khaleeq.
A track passing through the Sher Khan port would be the safest road in the country, as no security incident had occurred there over the past two years, he added.
Hundreds of people, including traders, youth, members of civil society and elders, on Sunday staged a protest, demanding the railway line be extended to Tajikistan through Kunduz.
The government had changed the original plan due to insecurity along the Kunduz highway, the demonstrators said, insisting the current situation was favourable for the project’s implementation.
The 490-kilometre rail line will connect Mazar-i-Sharif with Turkmenistan through Tajikistan.