Central Asian States To Fight For water

Photo retrieved from: www.pravada.ru

“During the Soviet regime, this phenomenon was observed in all Central Asian republics. Through the development of technology it became possible to irrigate the former alpine pastures and water consumption has significantly increased.

Further increase in water intake was one of the main reasons for the Aral Sea disaster, which made the vast areas within a radius of hundreds of kilometers of coastline of the former Aral Sea unsuitable for human life.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region’s water problems have become more acute. First, the central authority that to some extent smoothed the contradictions between the elites, playing an arbiter in resolving major issues, and was a financial contributor and resource for local republics, has disappeared.

When they became independent, in addition to freedom the newly formed government acquired numerous problems. The economic development in the region in previous years was carried out mainly with Moscow funds. Now they had to cope on their own. Various tricks of the local elites to obtain preferential loans from Russia were not a way out. With the exception of Kazakhstan, the standard of living in the rest of the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union rapidly descended to the indicators of the most Third World countries.

In particular, it was applicable to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. One way to overcome poverty and reach recovery was ambitious water projects in these countries. The largest of them is a construction site Rogun on Tajik territory, strongly opposed by Uzbekistan, fearing that it will not have enough water.”

Read more: Pravada