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The Role of Communication in the Development of Afghanistan

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The Role of Communication in the Development of Afghanistan Durham E-Theses The role of communication in the development of Afghanistan Amin, Hamiddullah How to cite: Amin, Hamiddullah (1967) The role of communication in the development of Afghanistan, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9995/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk The role of communication in the development of Afghanistan Abstract of thesis Afghanistan became a meeting point of several civil• izations in early history due to the fact that most of the important commercial highways connecting east and west passed through this country. As a result the country became the cradle of Buddhic and Greco-Buddhic cultures and the centre of several empires. At present, the Afghans are again trying to make Afghanistan the meeting point of east and west. This time not by animals and caravan routes, but by building modern highways and airports, which in addition to providing facilities for the goods in transit through Afghanistan will facilitate the internal communication of the country. It is the aim of this thesis to discuss the importance of communications both internal and external, with particular reference to the geographical problems which inhibit the development of communication in the country, making its improvement costly and difficult. Massive mountain ranges,'vast deserts and rivers separate the social and economic regions in the country and isolate Afghanistan from the outside world. To these may be added the problem of variable climate, uneven dis• tribution of population and most important of all the lack of sufficient capital. The second aspect of the thesis is the attempts which have been made for the development of communications by a government fully aware of the importance of communications; a large part of the developmental budget and of foreign aid was spent on this sector of the economy in both the development plans 1956-67. The efforts to improve communications need to be stepped up further, to hasten the development of agriculture, industry, trade and above all the social and political integration of the country. Moreover Afghanistan must be increasingly linked with the outside world. The Role of Complication in the Development of Afghani stsn The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Thesis for the Decree of LI. A. BY WIV3HSITY OF WE131 U.K. .August 19^7 (i) C 0 IT T E IT T S Z£ii2£2 Page Chapter One; Afghanistan's historic si role for conmtuni cation 1 The major trade routes 14 Nature of the trade 18 Interculturai exchange 21 Chapter T\TO; Internal and external problems of coEEimication 29 I. The impact of world conditions 29 II. Relief end structure 35 III. Cliriate 44 IV. Rivers 49 V. Di ptribution of Population 56 VI. Shortage of labour 59 VII. Finance g0 Chapter Three; Road transport 73 Conditions and development of roads before World War Two. 76 Development of roads after World War Tv;o. 80 External links 81 Major high-::a;rs in Afghanistan 90 1. Kabul-Turkham highway 90 2. Ea'.Til-Eaidahar-Spinboldak highway 94 3. worthsm IrLghway ' 97 A. Ka'.ul-Jaoulsaraj 98 3. Salang 98 C. Doshi-Qizd.l Gala lQl (ii) A. Astern hi£jiw 102 5. Puli khum ri -lia z ?r 10 4 6. lie rat-Is lam Qala 104 7. I'Zabul-Pu.li Alan 105 6. Asian highway 105 Road transport 108 workshops 114 Chapter Four: Air transport 117 Airports 125 Kabul International airport 127 Uegrain airport 128 Kandahar international airport 129 Herat airport 131 Kunduz- airport 131 Kasar airport 131 ITan^arhar airport 131 Haimana, airport . 132 Scabzwar airport 132 Air communication and meteorology ^-32 Education and training •'•35 1. Training: centres 136 20 Educational hi^h school 13°" 5. Aviation courses , Ariana Afghan Airlines 138 Mf^hanistan1 s access to the sea, ' 144 (iii) Pa^ Chapter give: The Economic, Social end Political Aspects. 149 I. The social and political significance of transport 151 II. Significance of transport in development of agriculture. 16"1 Specialization in agricultural products -^°6 III. The effect of transport on the exploitation of mineral 1^9 resources. IV. Industry "^73 V. Tourism and its relation vith transport 177 VI. Domestic and foreign trade. 181 Chapter Six; The Five Year plans and Conclusions •'•92 Pi Are Year plans. 198 Note Pag5S 142 and 184 do not appear. The error is regretted. H. Anin Ljst of Tables 1. ConrorrisOii estimated construction costs on roads in mountains and plains. 38 2. SGasonal closure of passes. 47 3. Afghan fpvcmnent finance (1949-1955). 65 4. Comparison outlay during two plans. 64 5. Pattern of financing the Second Five Tear Plan (10&2-67). 64 6. Afghan net national product estimated value, 1953-54* 7. Afghanistan foreign trade by country for I965-60. 67 8. Comparison of distances from Kabul over Hindu Kush. 79 9. Road, construction-and capital expend!ture 1956-66". ^9 10. Total construction work on Kabul-Turkham highway. 92'- 11. Freight traffic on Kabul-Turkham and Kandahar-Spinboldak highways, 95 "1956-57. 12. Comparative costs and transit time from Karachi to Kabul. 96 15. Total construction work on Kabul-Kandahar highway. 97 14. Imported cars and trucks 1751-1956. 108 15. Kumber of personc par vehicle - selected countries (1955). 109 16. Imported vehicles during First Five Year Plan I956-I96I. llO 17. iTumber of trucks in operation 1955-1961. Ill 18. Buses registered during first plan 1955-51. 112 19. Distance table of Afghanistan in Kn. 116 20. Personnel undergoing air training during second plan (1962-67). 137 21. Duration of flights (Arirna Airlines in 1958). 143 (v) Page 22. Growth and activity of Ariana Afghan Airlines 1958-55. 144 23. Comparative regional advantages for production of key commodities including povier and transportation considerations. 24. Afghanistan's imports I965-66. 182 25. Afgianistan's exports 1955-66. 183 26. Vehicle imports under the First Five Pear pirn (1956-62). 200 27. Expenditure on airfields in First Five Year plan (1955-52). 202 28. Expenditure on various sections of the economy (1956-62). 203 29. Comparative outlay during the two plans. 205 30. Investment outlay during the second plan 1962-67. 205 31. Distribution of investment on different sections of transport. 206 32. Carryover and new projects during second plan 1952-67 . 207 (vi) List of Figures 1. Bactria end trade routes B.C. 200 -170. 2. ICushan empire and trade rovites A.D. 100-150. 3. Key map of place names. 4- Af. pianist sr. relief. 5. Rivers and navigation. 5. Distribution of population. 7. Passes through Hindu Kush. 8. Road, network. 9. Number of vehicles in Afghanistan 1957-55. 10. Weekly flights. 11. Airports and river ports. 12. Passengers end freight carried, by Ari ana Aff 13. External communication by land... 14. Distribution of ethnic groups 15. Agri cul tu re an d 1 an d u se. 15. Distribution of minerals. 17. Location of industries. (vii) preface Of all the factors preventing the economic development in Afghanistan, the problem of oommunication is one of the most serious. This thesis will discu-ss this problem with special reference to environmental difficulties, aid the strenuous attempts which have been made to improve^communications in recent yegjrs. Because of the superficial nature of work done by some authors on communications and transport in Afghanistan it was essential to carry out further fieldwork for this thesis. The fieldwork included in some parts of this literature was conducted by the author as part of a, continuin research project in the Institute of Geography at the University of Kabul. The lack of statistical data added formidable difficulties in presenting a comprehensive picture of the country's caniuunication and transportation system.^) In future it may become possible to present a detailed thesis using statistics, but for the present it has been necessary to manage without adequate statistics. Dr. Gregory Fromkin of the Geneva office of the International labour organization who served a..s United h'a.tions statistical axlvisor to Afghanistan states, ".....the student, especially the westerner, must not be deceived by the statistical vacume in this country and by its primitive technical level. In western countries people ore accustomed, to learning about a country's conditions through statistical and similar information. "(T) The first report about the economic progress of the country was published in 1959 hy Tanistry of Planning (established in 1957) (viii) Books, reports, balaice sheets are the main investigation tool of a student. In Afghanistan ho has to discover and study things on the spot. A book or a report far from being the starting point of en enouiry, will be its terminus.^ I wo" Id like toexpress my deep gratitude to my superviser Dr. G. H. Blake without vihose help and constructive criticisms this work would, not have been possible.
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