DUSHANBE, April 29, 2009, Asia-Plus — Speaking at the one-day summit in Almaty, Kazakhstan that was designed to discuss the disappearing Aral Sea, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon noted on April 28 that the overuse of water by the downstream countries of the region for irrigation of new lands has become the main reason for desiccation of the Aral Sea, according to presidential press service.
The leaders of the five Central Asian nations debated the issue of conducting international examination of construction of hydropower facilities in the Central Asian region. President Rahmon noted that in that case, it was also necessary to carry out the studies to assess reservoirs of the downstream countries that now contained water more than the Aral Sea.
The summit resulted in signing of a joint statement, the press service said.
