With the advent of electricity, Kabulis have been buying televisions

By Bilal Sarwary

BBC News, Kabul

All-day electricity has finally arrived in Kabul, bringing with it some of the small comforts that many in the developed world take for granted. Life at the house of Sayed Abdul Rahim has become, in his words, "easier and more entertaining". Mr Rahim's clothes are now ironed regularly, he is able to enjoy daily hot baths, his children no longer have to squint at their homework by candlelight, and his 10-year-old son, Ajmal, never misses his favourite Indian soap operas on television. All of these changes have been brought about by a deal struck earlier this year between the Afghan finance ministry and the government of neighbouring Uzbekistan. They are tired of war, corruption and problems, so they want to watch television and movies to escape from these problems

Wali, shopkeeper A handful of Kabul's districts now enjoy 20 hours of electricity every day following a four-year project to build a high-voltage line between the two countries. Previously the Afghan capital had no more than four or five hours of intermittent diesel-generated power a day. Officials hope that in the coming years, many more provinces will also get electricity. But progress comes at a price. Nearly one third of Rahim's salary goes on his electricity bill. "We are very happy that we have electricity all the time but poor families like mine can't afford to pay $40 (£12) a month. They need to bring the prices down," he said. An official at the finance ministry defended the policy saying that for poor Afghans, electricity cost three cents per kilowatt but for businesses and international organisations it was 20 cents per kilowatt. Sick of war Shopkeepers throughout central Kabul have reported a big spike in the sale of electrical products. At Sediq Omar market, known locally as "the electric market", traders talk about the big rise in television and DVD sales. Kabul's night has been transformed "People buy televisions and DVDs every day. They are tired of war, corruption and problems, so they want to watch television and movies to escape from these problems," says shopkeeper Wali. Mohammad Shafiq, 42, is one of Wali's customer. He works for the Afghan army. Today he has come to buy a television and a DVD player because he too is getting 20 hours of electricity a day. "I couldn't afford a generator in the past so I didn't want to have a television and DVD. We either argued in the family or listened to radio or went to bed early. But now we can watch television and movies and have hot baths in the morning," he says. And it is not just inside the home that Kabulis can see the difference. Night drivers no longer rely solely on their sense of direction and the narrow, yellow beams of their headlights to guide them through the city's labyrinthine streets. Nowadays the hills surrounding Kabul are speckled with golden orbs from lights inside houses, gleaming like thousands of small fireflies hovering in the night sky. However, there remains much work to be done. The Afghan government estimates that only 7% of the country has access to electricity. Many Afghans complain that while most of their political leaders can boast of 24 hours of electricity, the majority of villages and valleys still rely on kerosene lamps and firelight. Although Afghanistan has several of its own hydroelectric dams, the output of these dams has been hit hard by a series of droughts. Afghanistan has a number of hydroelectric dams But officials at the water and energy ministry are optimistic about the coming months, after a winter of heavy snow and a rainy spring. Some Afghans argue that more rivers should be diverted to feed more hydroelectric dams. But this is politically sensitive. In the past, several neighbouring countries - including Pakistan, Iran, and Uzbekistan - that also rely on the water from these rivers have blocked such initiatives. Despite all this, Afghans like Mr Rahim have had their spirits buoyed. But the destruction of the past three decades also leaves him wary that such luxuries may not last. "I won't get rid of my Bukhari [wood-fired stove]. We have used it for a long time, and I am not convinced that the electricity will always be able to provide us with heat in the winter. But we are still very thankful because for many many years we were deprived of it in the past."



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