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Helmand: The Valley of Fertility & Livelihood

Every issue we take a journey to a different region in Afghanistan. This issue we selected the southern province of Helmand. By Daud Saba January - March 1998 Lemar-Aftaab Helmand is located among the Southern provinces of Afghanistan bordering Kandahar, Farah, Orozgan and Zabul. In the past sixty years the importance and prosperity of the cities and towns in the province of Helmand have dramatically changed. Until 1940, the province was considered as part of the province of Kandahar, but after the implication of the Helmand-Argandab Irrigation Project, it obtained the status of a separate province with the capital Gareshk. In 1957, the capital changed from Gareshk to the newly built city of Lashkargah (ancient Bost). The city of Lashkargah was built close to the ruins of the ancient city of Bost which had a small bazaar. The homes of the American employees of the Helmand-Argandab project were the first buildings erected in the vicinity of the hospital and other government institutions on the eastern flanks of the Helmand river bed. The project of the Lashkargah was designed by American specialists, and differed much from the design of the other Afghan cities. The bazaar was made up of two buildings and shops along a straight boulevard on the south-eastern side of the city. In 1973, the bazaar contained 655 shops, dealing with all the necessities of the residents. The old caravansaries which are a part of any city in Afghanistan was excluded from the structure of this city. This was done with the purpose of modernizing the face of southern Afghanistan. At the beginning, the walls of the apartments and houses were ignored, but soon people erected their own fences and mud walls which spoiled the originally North-American look of Lashkargah. On the eastern parts of the city, a school and other government offices were built. On the south-eastern side were built the industrial institutions and factories. Soon Lashkagah became the center of industry in southern Afghanistan. The cotton processing factory, cooking oil production and refinery, stone polishing and processing factory, wood processing factory, Boghra Electric Production Plant, and other small scale businesses were established. The resemblance of Laskargah was seen in the structure and looks of Pole-Khomry, Baghlan and Kondoz in Northern Afghanistan. With certainty, one could state that Lashkargah was the only city in Afghanistan with the best infrastructure until the war began in 1978. Drinking water, a problem in many parts of Afghanistan, was supplied from seven underground water sources. In 1973 more than half of the families had their water source from these deposits. More than seventy percent of the families (1360 family units) had access to electricity. The hospital in Helmand had more than 50 beds and seven doctors, much more than any hospital in Afghanistan. The school was the only school in Afghanistan that had both boys and girls attending the same classes. The population of the Laskargah and the vicinities in 1973 were 10,000. The people came mostly from Kandahar and Helmand with a few from Kabul and Herat. Most of the residents were professionals working for the projects. Though the city was developing very fast with regard to the industries, the trade was bound to the city of Gareshk. The city of Gareshk was the capital of this province until 1957 and is located 45 km to the north of Lashkargah. Gareshk is located along the Poshta Rud river western bank. It was adjacent to the major Herat-Kandahar highway which revived the importance of this city after a period of recession. At the present moment, Gareshk is completely dependent on the facilities of Kandahar and Lashkargah. Very few government offices serve the people. The bazaars deal only with food commodities. Other bazaars and towns in the Helmand province do not possess any importance with regard to trade and industry, but supply large quantities of the agricultural productions of southern Afghanistan. Other townships are Musa-Qala, Nozad and Sangin to the North of the province (in the ancient times Zamin Dawar), Chah-Anjir, and Darwishan. Khalag is yet another township 23 km from Lashkargah which had absorbed many businesses in the area. In 1973, the government had abandoned this bazaar in order to move the businesses to Lashkargah. The fertile province of Helmad is covered by both banks of the Helmand river-- the biggest river in Afghanistan and the seventh biggest river in Asia. In the past, the banks of this river raised great civilizations and human achievements. Most of the incidents of our great history have occurred here. The great poet Ferdowsi’s epic Shahnama contains hundreds of verses on our ancestors that take place in the present day province of Helmand. Also, the best watermelons of Afghanistan come from this region. Unfortunately, due to the war, the province as well as the river banks are badly destroyed and getting worse every day. At the moment, opium is the major agricultural output of the province and is the backbone of the economy of warlords ruling the area. The once fertile and beautiful land has become a playground for warlords. Related link: Reminiscences of Afghanistan by Chuck Burress. (July-August 97)

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