World Bank and the Asian Development Bank on Thursday signed agreement with Afghanistan to co-finance Dahla Dam rehabilitation project in southern Kandahar province.

The agreement was signed between Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Humayoun Qayoumi and country directors of World Bank and ADB in a ceremony in Kabul that was presided by President Ashraf Ghani.

Dahla Dam is the largest dam in Kandahar and second largest in Afghanistan. The dam was built in 1952, but it was subject to siltation of the reservoir due to neglect over the years of war.

The rehabilitation project is expected to cost $400 million, which will be financed by World Bank and ADB, the president’s office said in a statement.

Tranche 1 of four expected tranches includes raising Dahla Dam’s height by 12 meters as a result of which its capacity will increase from 298 million cubic meters to 798 cubic meters.

Tranche 2 includes building system to irrigate 20,000 hectares of agriculture land. Trench 3 involves water supply to Kandahar city and its neighbouring villages. Trench 4 includes installing 24 megawatt capacity of hydropower turbines.

Contract for engineering studies of the project was signed in September 2017 and the process is expected to be completed in August next year.