SEVERE WATER SHORTAGE HITS TAJIKISTAN
Konstantin Parshin: 7/16/01

Tajikistan’s crumbling infrastructure is exacerbating a growing social crisis. A severe water shortage in the capital city of Dushanbe and other areas is now entering its third week. Authorities have provided no explanation for the prolonged shortage, and there are no signs that supplies will improve anytime soon. Already, the lack of water is posing substantial public health hazards.

On July 2, municipal authorities in Dushanbe -- which has a population approaching 1 million, according to some estimates -- announced pumping equipment would be turned off for up to five days in order to carry out repairs. "This extraordinary measure is caused by numerous disorders in the water-supply system all over the city," according to an official of Vodocanal, the city water-supply management office. "Authorities, engineers and technicians are doing their best to cope with the situation. However, capacity is not sufficient. Reservoirs at the water pump stations are being cleaned constantly because of the silt and sand coming with the mountain waters; the sub-stations in the city need an overhaul."

Sporadic supplies have resumed in some parts of Dushanbe, but many sections are still without water. Vodocanal officials now give no indication when repairs will be completed. Exacerbating the already critical situation is the fact that Tajikistan is experiencing one of its hottest summers on record, combined with a prolonged drought.

Meanwhile, state-controlled mass media has not covered the story. Tajiks, in Dushanbe and elsewhere, are resorting to increasingly dangerous methods to obtain water. Some people can be seen drinking straight from the ditches, where they wash plates after meals. Others make long treks to the Dushanbinka river, which runs through the Western part of the city, filling pails with water and hauling them back to their homes.

In addition, the shortage is prompting wastage of other precious resources. Those with the financial means have obtained portable electric pumps, which are operating without any municipal oversight. As a result, there has been significant over consumption of the little water that is available, and also there has been a severe drain of local electricity supplies. The portable pumps have additionally been linked to numerous fires throughout Dushanbe.

Even if mechanical defects are repaired, Tajikistan faces continued shortages due to drought. Authorities add that they lack sufficient supplies of chlorine, used to purify water. During a recent reporting trip outside Dushanbe, I noticed water levels were dangerously low. The largest reservoir at the city’s main pumping station was almost dry, as several bulldozers worked to clear accumulated silt.

The combination of heat and drought is fueling concerns about possible famine. No official projections about this year’s harvest have been released. But the widespread expectation is that crop levels will be low, leaving up to half of the country’s 6.2 million population vulnerable to hunger this year. Last year, assessment teams from the UN World Food Programme and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies cautioned that undernourished Tajiks would be especially prone to contracting infectious diseases – particularly water-borne ailments.

The poor condition of the water-supply system already has been linked to public health hazards. Three years ago, for example, visiting experts from the US Center for Disease Control concluded that an outbreak of typhoid was caused by so-called cross-contamination – in which drinking water became mixed with raw sewage. Since 1997, more than 50 thousand people have suffered from typhoid. In some regions, such as Shaartouz in south Tajikistan, towns of up to 20,000 inhabitants do not have access to potable water. Local health officials, worried about being punished by the central government, tend to cover up deficiencies thereby making health problems worse.

Tajikistan’s water-supply problems could have regional ramifications. The sources of more than half of Central Asia’s water supplies are in Tajikistan. In a speech at the UN last year, President Emomali Rakhmonov warned that water-issues could emerge as a major source of discord in the region.

Editor’s Note: Konstantin Parshin is a freelance journalist based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

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Posted July 16, 2001 © Eurasianet
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