Rustam Nazarzoda, the head of the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense under the Government of Tajikistan, told reporters in Dushanbe today that an exercise for Tajik rescuers is expected to be conducted in the Bartang Valley of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in August this year.
According to him, the exercise scenario will be based on Lake Sarez bursting through the dam. “Tajik rescuers will practice emergency preparedness skills,” Nazarzoda said, noting that the current state of Sarez Lake Dam does not cause concern.
“By 2020, Tajik rescuers will undergo attestation for the INCARAG standard certificate,” the CES chef added.
The International Search And Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) is a global network of more than 80 countries and organizations under the United Nations umbrella. INSARAG deals with urban search and rescue (USAR) related issues, aiming to establish minimum international standards for USAR teams and methodology for international coordination in earthquake response based on the INSARAG Guidelines endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 57/150 of 2002, on “Strengthening the Effectiveness and Coordination of International Urban Search and Rescue Assistance.”
Lake Sarez is a lake in GBAO’s Rushan district. Length is about 75.8 kilometers (47.1 mi), depth is few hundred meters, water surface elevation is about 3,263 meters above sea level and volume of water is more than 16 cubic kilometers. The mountains around rise more than 2,300 meters above the lake level.
The lake formed in 1911, after a great earthquake, when the Murgab River was blocked by a big landslide. The landslide dam formed by the earthquake is known as the Usoi Dam, which is 3km long and 550m high, the tallest natural dam in the world.
A landslide reportedly caused two meter high waves in the lake in 1968. A 1997 conference in Dushanbe concluded that the dam was unstable and might collapse if there were another powerful earthquake.
In 2000, the Lake Sarez Risk Mitigation Project (LSRMP) was launched. The project aiming at reducing the risk related to the natural structure by implementing a monitoring and an early warning system, by training the population leaving downstream and developing long term solutions, is a partnership between the Government and the people of Tajikistan, the World Bank and the donor community represented by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The main Tajik counterpart for the project is the Committee for Emergency Situations (CES).
A 2004 study by the World Bank held that the dam was stable. The principal danger seems to be a partially detached mass of rock of about 3 cubic kilometers that could break loose and fall into the lake. Since the valley below the dam is so narrow, any flood would be very destructive.
