A water treaty between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan was signed in 1946, allows Afghanistan to draw 9 million cubic metres of water a year from the Panj.[3] It currently draws only 2 million cubic metres of water. According to the Panj River Basin Project, environmental damage could be expected if Afghanistan drew the entire amount of allocated water from the river under the treaty.
Bridges
Afghanistan-Tajikistan Bridge: A highway bridge was built over the river between Tajikistan and Afghanistan at Nizhnii Panj. The contract was awarded in May 2005 and the construction of the bridge began in Jan 2006 and was completed in August 2007. Funding was provided by the United States, amounting to US$37 million, and the construction was done by an Italian General Construction company Rizzani de Eccher S.p.A. under the ownership of US Army Corps of Engineers. The bridge replaced a barge that could transport only 60 cars a day and which was unusable many months in the year due to strong currents in the river. It was reported in 2009 that this facilitates the heroin trade.[4]
Another bridge was built at the confluence with the Gunt River at Khorog in 2003.
A bridge exists at Langar, which may still be closed.
