Focus on the Salang Tunnel - key humanitarian lifeline

Two leading NGOs this week renewed their calls for urgent repair work to be started at Afghanistan's key Salang tunnel this summer. The 2.6-km tunnel, representing a vital humanitarian link between the north and south of the country, is in dire need of attention. "There is going to be a major problem unless certain things are done now to prepare for the winter," Shruti Mehrotra, the national programme coordinator for the French NGO, ACTED, told IRIN in the Afghan capital, Kabul. "These things must be started over the summer to ensure that the tunnel and the roads leading to it are ready. If these things don’t happen, there could very easily be a loss of life," she warned. Nasir Ahmad, an assistant programme manager for the British demining NGO, Halo Trust, was even blunter. Drawing attention to the lack of ventilation in the tunnel, he told IRIN there was a high risk of carbon-monoxide poisoning for the thousands of people travelling through it each day. "If people stopped their cars in the tunnel – which is pretty possible – they could become asphyxiated. If traffic stops, and you have buses with women and children on board – the results could be catastrophic. They will definitely die," he warned. Such warnings are justified by experience. Both ACTED and Halo Trust were on the scene in February when five motorists died and about 500 were rescued when an avalanche ripped through the tunnel’s southern entrance. The tragedy happened just a month after the tunnel was reopened for the first time since 1997. Built by Soviet engineers and opened in 1964, the Salang tunnel and road system provided the first direct year-round link between Afghanistan’s northern and southern regions. Earlier, goods being transported from the north to Kabul via the western city of Herat had taken about 72 hours to reach their destination. But with the opening of the Salang tunnel, that journey was cut to less than 10 hours. Rehabilitated during the Soviet era, the Salang pass soon became the country's economic and military lifeline. With the fall of the Afghan government in 1992, and the subsequent emergence of the Taliban in 1994, the Salang once again became the primary route of supply for the Northern Alliance until the fall of Kabul and the loss of the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. But following extensive bombing and a deterioration in the road system leading up to it, the tunnel was closed – effectively isolating the two halves of the country from each other. As the humanitarian crisis inside the country unfolded, in January this year, a joint international effort was undertaken by ACTED, the Afghan Ministry of Public Works, a Russian team of experts, Halo Trust and others to clear much of the rubble inside the tunnel and render it operational again. Later, with the support of the US Office for Disaster Assistance, ACTED continued to clear out the tunnel with a view to creating an effective traffic flow system. "We created a checkpoint at both sides, with ACTED staff allowing traffic in one direction on alternating days," Mehrotra said. The system continued until just six weeks ago, when simultaneous two-way traffic was allowed, she added. But while the tunnel is operational now, she agrees with Ahmad that much more needs to be done – particularly with regard to safety – and now. In addition to poor ventilation, the Halo Trust official pointed out that lighting in the tunnel was nonexistent. "Most parts of the tunnel are in complete darkness," he said. Other concerns are that much of the road’s tarmac up to the tunnel remains in disrepair, as do many of the bridges carrying the highway. Deterioration of road surfaces and supporting structures as a result of seismic activity, snow and rain-fed flash flooding, as well as military action (controlled detonations at key checkpoints) has narrowed road width at several locations north and south of the tunnel. ACTED maintains similar activity, in addition to avalanche and road-slide activity, had impacted on road conditions up to and including the tunnel itself. According to Ahmad, many of the extensive galleries protecting passing motorists from avalanches are in need of attention. "The ceiling is barely being held up by any support system and could drop out at any time," he said. "If a humanitarian convoy is travelling through, the snow will directly drop upon the vehicles and their passengers." Mehrotra said drainage inside the tunnel was also an issue: a recent flash flood at the northern end of the tunnel had halted traffic for 10 hours. The drainage aspect would become particularly problematic with the build-up of ice and snow in and around the tunnel in the winter. The depth of snow in the area could easily reach three metres, she said. According to ACTED, about 1,000 vehicles a day pass through the tunnel, representing between 6,000 to 8,000 passengers. The vehicles comprise an average of 200 fuel trucks, 400 large trucks carrying foodstuffs, light industrial equipment, construction material, commercial goods, and humanitarian aid, 100 trucks and other vehicles carrying military personnel and equipment, and 300 buses and small vehicles carrying passengers, personal items, and commercial goods. It is estimated that more than 70 percent of Kabul’s fuel supplies pass via this route. The World Bank has pledged its support for a massive long-term emergency and rehabilitation project for the tunnel, and to send a consulting team to assess it and the roads leading up to it. However, due to administrative delays and bidding processes, those undertakings have yet to materialise. This is also hindering critical emergency repair work that could have been undertaken now. According to a report by the American daily, Christian Science Monitor, on 3 July, the bidding documents went out at the end of June, but even emergency repairs have not yet been approved – and will not be until the World Bank governors meet in September. "We are working on a combination of credit and co-financing and grants," the paper quoted Terje Wolden, the World Bank project manager in charge of the tunnel project, as saying. "The government [of Afghanistan] is relying on pre-financing, but that’s the problem, because we don’t really have anything to pre-finance with." ACTED would like to get started on at least some of the minimum emergency work, and continues to maintain 35 staff members at the site, working alongside public works ministry officials. "I think it's imperative that the World Bank starts as soon as possible," Mehrotra maintained, adding: "If they don’t - then efforts need to be taken for someone to start as soon as possible. That’s absolutely essential." Describing the Salang as one of the top infrastructure projects for the next couple of years, she stated that if the World Bank were unable to start, ACTED would like to serve as a backup to start undertaking some of the initial emergency activities until such time as the Bank could step in. As full-scale reconstruction of the Salang road system is not likely to begin until the spring of 2003, ACTED, building on its experience, proposes two phases: firstly a temporary emergency programme of road, tunnel and safety-barrier cleaning and repair, and secondly an enhanced traffic management system. This should help increase and maintain capacity of the Salang pass and prepare for this winter before full-scale reconstruction of this critical lifeline can begin. But at this point, such ambitious efforts may also prove to be wishful thinking, so the waiting game continues. February's avalanche tragedy was a wake-up call to the international community, but it has yet to respond.