Uzbekistan may direct $4.3 billion to save Aral Sea

/By AzerNews/

By Vusala Abbasova

Uzbekistan plans to direct $4.3 billion to a comprehensive program aimed at reviving the Aral Sea for the 2015-2018 period.

The Uzbek government recently adopted a program aimed to providing socio-economic development aid for the Aral Sea region, reported Trend.

Eight projects with the total cost of $1.099 billion are planned in order to put in place measures to improve management systems and the rational use of water resources in the region, including investment in the amount of $388.3 million, loans totaling $678 million, and grants in the amount of $33 million.

Moreover, the government plans to allocate $433.69 million within the program to administer measures for reproduction and the preservation of the gene pool and health of the people who live in areas of environmental risk.

The program will also implement measures to increase employment and create income sources in order to improve the quality of life standards of the people inhabiting the Aral Sea region.

In addition, the program includes sixteen projects with a total cost of $157.1 million for the purpose of restoring the ecosystem, biodiversity, and conservation and protection of flora and fauna.

Furthermore, the program will provide an additional funding for modernization measures to produce and improve infrastructure to ensure socio-economic development of the regions of the Republic of Karakalpakstan ($1.921 billion) and the Khorezm region ($375.8 million).

This document has been worked out jointly with the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and Charity Fund for Aral Sea Gene Pool Protection.

The current environmental situation in the Aral Sea region is a global problem that affects the whole territory of Central Asia, the document states.

The Aral Sea, which only half a century ago was the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world, covering an area of 68,900 square kilometers with water volume of 1.083 million cubic kilometers, is now just a tenth of its former size.

The water volume in the Aral Sea fell by over 13 times, and the shrunk of its area by over seven times have significantly affected the living conditions of millions of people residing near the Aral Sea.

Water level in the Aral Sea has dropped by 26 meters, while the shoreline has receded by hundreds of kilometers.

The consequences have been devastating on an environmental, economic, and social level. Land once deep under water has now been turned into a new desert, Aralkum, which covers an area of over five million hectares and has become a source for ravaging dust storms.

Large areas of white salt fields, covered with sand, have appeared in the dried-up part of the sea. Fresh water supplies have been dramatically cut.

The lives of many thousands of people who once depended on the basin have been ruined as fishing villages became isolated, many miles from the water that provided their livelihoods.

The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea was established in 1993 with the participation of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

The objectives of the fund are the conservation of biological life, maintenance of the environment, and ensuring improvement of the quality and standard of living of the population. Since December 2008, the IFAS has earned observer status in the UN General Assembly.

In September 2013, a program of measures to eliminate the consequences of drying of the Aral Sea and prevent ecosystem disasters near the Sea has been distributed as an official document of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly.

In the period of activity of the IFAS, three programs to assist countries of the Aral Sea basin aimed at sustainable development, improvement of water resources management, and environmental protection were adopted. In accordance with the decision of the heads of IFAS member states, Uzbekistan since 2013 is the chairman of the foundation for the next three years.