DUSHANBE, August 7, 2014, Asia-Plus — Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev has given the go-ahead to a meeting of experts from Poyry Energy Ltd (Switzerland) with the public of the Tajik capital.
An official source at the Dushanbe mayor’s office says the results of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and the Techno-Economic Assessment Study (TEAS) for the Roghun Hydropower Project (HPP) will be announced at that meeting.
“The meeting will take place at the Poytakht Center in Dushanbe on august 16 at 9:00 am,” the source said.
The concluding products of the Assessment Studies, which were prepared by an international consultant consortium led by Coyne & Bellier for the TEAS and by Poyry Energy Ltd. for the ESIA, cover the following topics: dam safety (design criteria, geology, floods, seismicity, dam stability); water management and reservoir operations (hydrology, cascade operation, operating flow regime); economic and financial analyses; implementation and risks (construction materials, cost estimates, implementation schedule, risk analysis); environmental and social impacts (environmental, resettlement, socio-economic); impact on riparian countries; analysis of alternatives (alternatives to Roghun, dam alternatives); and recommendations (environmental management plan, further studies).
According to the draft consultants’ reports and the independent Panels of Experts, it is feasible to build and operate a dam at the Roghun site within modern international norms but contingent on incorporating the experts’ recommendations on modifying the original design, implementing the mitigation measures, and establishing monitoring systems throughout the life of any future project.
Uzbekistan strongly opposes the construction of the Roghun dam. During his visit to Karakalpakstan autonomous republic, Uzbek President Islam Karimov noted on October 8, 2010 that if Tajikistan goes on to complete Roghun as planned, it would leave Uzbekistan facing water shortages for eight years until Roghun dam filled with water. Tashkent has asked Russia and the United Nations to pressure Dushanbe to stop the Roghun hydroelectricity project.
