The Panj (Russian: Пяндж; Persian: رودخانه پنج; "River Five") (/ˈpɑːndʒ/; Tajik: Панҷ, پنج; "Five"), traditionally known as the Ochus River and also known as Pyandzh (derived from its Slavic word ("Pyandz"), is a river in Afghanistan and Tajikistan and is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The river is 921 kilometres (572 mi) long and has a basin area of 114,000 square kilometres (44,000 sq mi).[2] It forms a considerable part of the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border.[3]
A water treaty between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan, signed in 1946, allows Afghanistan to draw 9 million cubic metres of water a year from the Panj.[3]
It currently draws 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 water from the river that the treaty allows.
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 [1] of the bridge began in Jan 2006 and was completed in August 2007. The financing was provided by the US, 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 replaces 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. RAWA reports[4] that this facilitates the heroin trade, the key to the economic miracle in Afghanistan.
Another bridge was built at the confluence with the Gunt RiveratKhorog in 2003.
A bridge exists at Langar, which may still be closed.