CUSTOMS/HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT/DAMS/ROADS/CANALS,LAKES/TRADE WITH USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500640054-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2001
• Sequence Number: 54
• Publication Date: September 22, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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NAVY Declassification rove ls ForrKeVeatse%05j? /07 CI/~~RDP80-00809A000500640054-9
on File ppp 0~? 0ff1c1I S Only
CONFIDENTIAL
AND 7.4. o? T,.. U,S coo.. AS o.,. IT.
a?.rnaroN o, r,. r..
LOTION O? ITS .o.TO.r. TO 05,00 Ar[n,? .r ?e u.?urNO.I .00 ....c. IS
SUBJECT Customs/Hydroelectric Project/Dams/Bonds/Canals, Lake s/
Trade with USSR
PLACE ACQUIRED - ?~
(BY SOURCE)
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
25X1 C
ter. oatar4T co. ?,.. 10, 0.r?r lo. ur cTr.a NATIONAL -..j.
OP r.. -T10 .TAT- _ r. Tr.c.u.r.a.1 T nr . ucrlo.. n.
2 5X 1 X THIS Is UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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DATE DISTR. a o- Sep 54
NO. OF PAGES
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP, TO
OCOnrTT w n
LThe Office of Naval Intelligence furni_.hed the f:11c.wiug informati,n t^
CIA for IAC dissemination in accordance, witi: paragraph 3(2)" NSCID 7,
(,DIO-?1114D Cent' report No 367-54.17
1. Customs Inspe..tion Net Thorough The most widely-used entry into Afgha.istan
is from West Pakistan through the I4hyber P3s.e. Four Customs st.,p3 ar,
required in crossing the border; one about ten miles east on the Pakistan
side, one each by each country at the border; and an3the.c about ten miles to
the west in Afghanistan. The inspections are not at 311 thorough -? the
process consisting primarily of taking a cup of tea with the Customs official.
2. Peshau u. to Kabul 12 hours by Automobile The trip from Peshawar to Kabul
is only 180 miles by road through the Khyber Piss;, but its transit requires
some 12 hours of driving. The first 30 miles out of Peshawar is good, two-
lane road with black-Atop surfacing. The other 150 miles of road is dirt
surface, allowing only very slow automobile speeds. Drainage is very poor,
and washouts frequently make the road impassable for two or three days at a
tin.3 in the Spring. Winter snows may also prevent. passage at tine-,
3. uSnomic Outlook Dim The people of Afghanistan are generally well-fed, bat
very raggedly dressed. Little is seen that would indicate oily likelihood of
economic conditions improving appreciably in the future. The critical need
in Afghanistan is for persons trained in the technical fields.
4. gene NaL*.on-1-:-- Afghanistan sympathies are somewhat with the US and
with Germany. They are anti-Communist, but above all, they are strongly
nationalistic.
5. Wi.desra Corruption in Pub~i Lila The Afghanistan people seem to bo almost
cruel in nature, showing little concern for persons as individuals, The
average citizen has little recourse in law. Corruption is quits widespread
in public life and seems to be expected inasmuch as public officers probably
could not .sustain themselves on their legal pay.
U.S. Officials Only
CONFIDENTIAL
This report is for the use within the USA of the Intelligence components of the Departments or AgenciLs o Indica above. thetAsis not sistanttDirrt Director of'tthee(")Me,. of aCollection and concurrence
ttonf the
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 Approved For Release 2005/06/07 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500640054-9
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6. Servants to Foreigners Must Have Police Permit. Servants in Kabul are required
to obtain a police permit prior to taking employment with a foreigner.
!;~fici4ls a r intenance of Political Status o There is no attempt on the
t of government to create a political awareness in the public. The general
feeling among political and civic figures is that it would only be inviting
trouble to attempt to educate the masses in things political. They have
experienced bloody uprisings in the past and want no more of that sort of thing.
Their apprehension is carried even to the extent of discouraging self-government
within the schools. Maintenance of the status quo is their apparent objective.
,Possible Source of Dissidence. Since World War II, the Afghanistan government
has sent two hundred to three hundred students to various US universities.
All of the students' school expenses plus approximately $150 per month each for
miscellaneous expenses were covered by the Afghanistan government in return for a
contract with each student for subsequent employment with the Afghanistan
government at 415 to ~20 per month, the employment to last two years for every
year spent in school, Many of these individuals are frustrated by their return
to a low standard of living and by their inability to improve their own and the
national economic status. They, as are almost all well-.educated Afghans, are
dissatisfied with their country and would much prefer to live abroad. This group
constitutes a possible source of trouble in the future, although no. outward
manifestations of unrest have been observed as yet.
9. liy rgeleetric Plant at Sarobi, The Ziemans Company's (German firm) hydroelectric
construction at Sarobi on the Kabul River is not yet producing any power although
the plant has been under construction for about four year-,. (It is 1ntsresting
to note that a large US construction company in bidding, is said to have
estimated one year to be the maximum total time required to complete the project.)
The dam for this installation is 30 or 40 feet high and is anchored to the walls
of a canyon. A power tunnel within the canyon face has been constructed to carry
the water several miles downstream to the generating plant where a head of 100 to
150 feet will be available. Probably only twp turbines will be installed
initially; however, the prevent construction will provide the space for a total
of three. The final installation of the two turbines will probably be completed
sometime late in 1955.
10. Per Trananiission from Sarobi to Kabul . The power from the Sarobi station will
eventually be routed to Kabul via a well-designed transmission system) the line
being supported on steel towers, It can be expected, however. that much of the
power will be lost in the inefficient distribution system within Kabul.
Presently; one-third of the power supplied to Kabul Is lost in the transmission
within the city, and another third is stolen. The availability of power within
Kabul at any given time is a very uncertain thing, It is not unusual to have the
voltage drop unexpectedly from the intended 220 volts down to 30 or
11. Kabul Receiving Power from Jabul-us- Sirai.. Kabul is presently `mid-1957
receiving all of its power from hydroelectric plants at Jabui-us-Siraj (about
50 miles north of Kabul) and Chaki--Wardok (believed t- be about the sane
distance west northwest of Kabul). Both of these installations were built by
German engineers 1.5 to 20 years ago and are veil maintained, The plant at
Jabul-us- Slraj has three turbines supplied from a snail earth dam, The plant at
Chaki-?Wardok Is believed to be similar.
12. Hydroelectric -Plant at ,Pub--i-Khumri, (35?56'h1, 68?h.4'E; World Aeronautical
Chart 431.,) The hydroelectric plant at 1-uI -i-Khumri pr--,ides power primarily
for the textile mill in that town, This installation was also built by German
engineers 15 to 20 years ago? It is well maintained at present by German
technicians. The dam is of concrete ccditructl.on, about three hundred feet wide
and 20 to 30 feet high, There are thrWe vertical turbines, utilizing a low
head (about 20 feet,.)
Approved For Release 2005/06/07 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500640054-9
 Approved For Release 2005/06/07 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500640054-9
CONFIDENTIAL/US OFFICIIALS ONLY
13. Morrison-Knudsen Dam Co truct on in t Kandahar Area The Morrison-Knudsen
Company has recently 2resumably 195 plated two small earthen irrigation
dams in the vicinity of Kandahar. They are the Rajkai Dam (32016 2N9 65?03'E on
World Aeronautical Chart 430), and th6 Arghandab Dam (approximately 30040 IN,
65?33'E on World Aeronautical Chart 442). Kajkai has a small generating plant
for the operation of valves and gates, but no surplus power is produced. A
power tunnel was constructed, by-passing the dam to the south, but it has been
blocked off completely, and there is no indication that it will be used in the
near future.
goads in the Kandahar .Araa. There is a road connecting the Kajkal and Arghandab
Dams mentioned above, however, it is not shown on the World Aeronautical
Charts 430, 431 or 442. It is a well-constructed road, two lanes wide with a
gravel surface, and it follows a nearly direct route from Kajkai to the Arghandab
Dam and beyond to the Morrison-Knudsen Camp just east of Kandahar. Autcaaobiles
may proceed at 40 to 50 miles per hour on this road but it has begun to washboard
since the Afghans took it over a year ago [195.2/ and will probably be beyond repair
in another year. The road from Kandahar. to Chaman (West Pakistan) is in a similar
stage of deterioration. It is of the same type of construction but is much
better aligned.
15. Dads in General. Kabul has the only paved roads in Afghanistan, and even that
city has only two or three miles paved, Roads generally are not well-,constructed;
they are of graded gravel or dirt, narrow., and poorly aligned. Satisfactory
bridges are almost non-existent in Afghanistan,
16. . emalan_Canal,. The Shemalan Canal is currently ,(mid-l95lt/ supplying irrigation
water to the Nadiali area approximately 80 miles to the west of Kandahar. This
canal draws water from the Helmand River at approximately .31?50'N,, 64?36'E (Wor:Ld
Aeronautical Chart 442) and carries it approximately 18 miles west southwest to
the vicinity of several model (planned) villages which have never been inhabited'
Experimental farming has been undertaken in this area,
17. Lakes Not Shown an j There are five lakes formed by the Band.i-Amir River
which are not shown on the World Aeronautical Charts mentioned above, and are
believed, not to be shown on any popular map, These lakes are located roughly
in the east-west section of the Rud-?i-Band- i-Amir i.n the vicinity of 35?18'N,
66?22rE, as shown on World Aeronautical Chart 430. The largest of these lakes is
the farthest upstream and is approximately one mile wide and ten miles long, its
length generally following the course of the river.. Going downstream; the other
lakes follow one another in close succession becoming progressively smaller, the
lowest and smallest lake being about one-half a mile tilde and onn--half a mile
long.
18. Gos ine Imports from USSR. A sizeable trade with Russia is carried on, the
Afghans receiving gasoline, bicycles and cloth in return for raw wool and cotton.
About fifty percent of Afghanistan's gasoline comes in from Peshaw: end the
other fifty percent from the Soviet border in the vicinity of Termez (north of
Mazar-i--Sharif), Its transport is accomplished in small rectangular, steel
tanks (about 31 x 1I x 21) which are crated and loaded onto trucks for the
trip south. It is not known whether or not there is a bridge spanning the river
at Te.^mOz inasmuch as foreign nationals are restricted from an area within five
miles of the entire Afghanistan border (with the entry prints excepted. of course).
19. Rumors Conoernins Afhanistan/USSR AKreements, There were rumors in Kabul in
January 1954 to the effect that some sort of trade agreement has been reached
between Afghanistan and the USSR in which the USSR would receive Afghanistan
cotton and wool in return for Soviet machiner.-,
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CONFIDENTIAL/US OFFICIALS ONLY
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20. A501101 Psronage W-fort. The Soviet government has, upon one oooasion at
least, extended invitations to Afghanistan government to send individuals to
Moscow on short propaganda visits of seven'to'ten days. In the winter of 1953
the Afghanistan government did select about five people to make such a trip.
One of these was Mir Aasari, the head of the Faculty (College) of L..terature,
University of Kabul. Ansari has spent about seven years of his life in the US;
he is a graduate of the University of Chicago and has an American wife. Anaari
returned from this trip relating glowing tales of the wonders of Moscow; he was
particularly impressed with its lack of slums. He did not seem to think it at
all significant that the entire tour was carefully planned and conducted and
that he was not allowed to take any photographs but, rather, was given a number
of select photographs to take with him upon departing the country.
- end'-
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751.11 N(1U)
751.11 1U(N)
122.51 N(IU)
CONFIDENTIAL/US OFFICIALS ONLY
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