TODAY.AZ / Politics

Disrepair of Sarsang reservoir may result in fresh humanitarian crisis, PACE says

27 November 2015 [19:22] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

European parliamentarians have warned that the state of disrepair of the Sarsang dam could result in a “major disaster with great loss of human life” and possibly a fresh humanitarian crisis.

PACE Political Affairs Committee adopted a draft resolution based on a report prepared by parliamentarian Milica Markovic with regard to the Sarsang reservoir, located in Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia.

Adopting the draft resolution based on a report prepared by Markovic, an MP from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the parliamentarians said the lack of regular maintenance work for over 20 years on the Sarsang reservoir, located in one of the areas of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, “poses a danger to the whole border region.”

Sarsang, Azerbaijan’s highest water reservoir, which is situated 726 meters above sea level, was built on top of the Tartar River during the Soviet times in 1976. Since 1992, the Sarsang reservoir has been under the control of the Armenian armed forces, and as a result, frontline regions have been deprived of water.

In the draft resolution, adopted on November 23 on the report entitled "Intentional deprivation of the residents of the Azerbaijani border regions of water" PACE demanded Armenia’s pullout from the zone of Sarsang reservoir, and called for ending the use of water resources for the benefit of one of the parties to the conflict or as a means of pressure on the other.

In view of this urgent humanitarian problem, the committee requested the immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces, thus allowing access by independent engineers and hydrologists to carry out a detailed on-the-spot survey and international supervision of the irrigation canals, the state of the Sarsang dam, the schedule of water releases during the autumn and winter, and aquifer over exploitation.

PACE added that the parliamentarians also requested the Armenian authorities to cease using water resources as tools of political influence or an instrument of pressure.

The Armenian side intentionally opens the floodgates during the winter months and causes flooding in the surrounding areas. But, it does not allow using it in summer. As a result, there are serious problems in providing people and farms with water and preserving the biodiversity.

The international conventions envisage that the use of water is an integral part of human rights.

During 20 years of occupation, the technical facilities and equipment of the Sarsang reservoir have been driven into dire conditions due to a lack of maintenance and up keep. The probability of the destruction as a result of malfunction, natural disaster, or sabotage is extremely high and is now a real threat for Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for over two decades. Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that sparked a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to date.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/145546.html

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