KABUL – The years long dream of the transnational TAPI gas pipeline seemsto be coming true as the strategic project connecting Turkeministan,Afghanistan, Pakistan and India is going to start in Afghanistan onFriday.
High level officials from the four countries are expected to attend aground-breaking ceremony in Herat on Friday to launch the first phase ofthe TAPI gas pipeline construction process.
Local residents have said that the eventual implementation of themulti-million dollar project will help the country boost its economicgrowth and prosperity.
Meanwhile, residents and a number of scholars called on the Taliban not toattempt to sabotage the project. They said TAPI is a national asset.
“TAPI helps us to move forward towards a new beginning in Afghanistan,”said one resident in Herat Behroz Majidi.
“Today we see that the people express their support for the project,”another resident Ali said.
According to experts the successful implementation of TAPI in Afghanistanwill be followed by three more mega projects in the war-ravaged country.
TAPI will however, transport gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistanand India via a 1,814km pipeline.
In Afghanistan, the TAPI pipeline will be constructed alongside theKandahar–Herat Highway in western Afghanistan, and then via Quetta andMultan in Pakistan. The final destination of the pipeline will be theIndian town of Fazilka, near its border with Pakistan.
Afghanistan is expected to earn $500 million USD in transit duties annuallyfrom the project.
The pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers long and will have the capacity oftransferring 33 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistanand India through Herat, Farah, Helmand and Nimroz provinces of Afghanistan.
“TAPI is a sign of transforming Afghanistan from a confrontation point intoa regional and international cooperation point, and the nation not onlywelcomes the project but most importantly the concept,” President AshrafGhani said.