President: 'The idea that water is not free should be deeply ingrained'
Uzbekistan
It is known that in the next twenty years the Amu Darya and Syr Darya flows are expected to decrease by 15 per cent. At the very least, the cost of water is becoming twice as expensive, 20 million kilowatt-hours of electricity is wasted per year, and water supply has deteriorated on another 20,000 hectares.
Today, 17 November, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is holding a meeting on socio-economic development of Surkhandarya province in Termez city. The head of state also touched upon the issue of water.
According to him, the flow of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya is expected to decrease by 15 per cent in the next twenty years. Water-saving technologies are being expanded, but it is not enough. 80 per cent of land in Surkhandarya Province is irrigated by pumps. However, the service life of 52 pumps exceeds 40 years.
As a result, the cost of water is doubled, 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity is lost per year, and water supply has deteriorated on another 20,000 hectares. In addition, 1,700 kilometres of irrigation networks lose 35 per cent of their water because half of the soil is ordinary run-of-the-river.
"The main task should be to inculcate the idea among the people that 'water is not free', make it a rule of daily life with mahalla activists, senior citizens, intellectuals and the general public," the President said.
Officials were directed to develop a two-year programme to concretise 47 canals, repair six canals with heavy water loss, raise $60 million to repair the Sherabad canal next year and rehabilitate 90,000 hectares of land.
According to him, the flow of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya is expected to decrease by 15 per cent in the next twenty years. Water-saving technologies are being expanded, but it is not enough. 80 per cent of land in Surkhandarya Province is irrigated by pumps. However, the service life of 52 pumps exceeds 40 years.
As a result, the cost of water is doubled, 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity is lost per year, and water supply has deteriorated on another 20,000 hectares. In addition, 1,700 kilometres of irrigation networks lose 35 per cent of their water because half of the soil is ordinary run-of-the-river.
"The main task should be to inculcate the idea among the people that 'water is not free', make it a rule of daily life with mahalla activists, senior citizens, intellectuals and the general public," the President said.
Officials were directed to develop a two-year programme to concretise 47 canals, repair six canals with heavy water loss, raise $60 million to repair the Sherabad canal next year and rehabilitate 90,000 hectares of land.
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