Implementation of a new project of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) aimed at modernization and re-equipment of a monitoring system installed at Lake Sarez will start in Tajikistan in the near future, Rustam Nazarzoda, the head of the Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan told reporters in Dushanbe on February 6.
According to him, the project provides for improvement of living and working conditions of emergency response employees carrying round the clock duty in the Lake Sarez area.
“The main segment of the ADB is a complete replacement of all equipment installed at the Usoy dam,” Nazarzoda noted.
Besides the system of early warning of the population in case of any safety hazards will be expanded to the border with Uzbekistan, he noted.
“The all system will be replaced,” said Nazarzoda. “Although current equipment works flawlessly, taking into consideration the technological obsolescence of equipment, it has been decided to provide our services with the state-of-the-art equipment.”
The Asian Development Bank will also make available equipment for exploration of the country’s glaciers and hail cannons to the Emergencies Committee before the end of this year,” Nazarzoda said.
“In all, the Emergencies Committee will receive US$10 million worth of technical equipment from the Asian Development Bank during this year,” he added.
Recall, the Lake Sarez Risk Mitigation Project (LSRMP) was launched in 2000. 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 Emergencies Committee.
An early warning system installed with support from the Government of Switzerland automatically informs the administrative center of Rushan district, Khorog and Dushanbe of any natural changes taking place in the Lake Sarez area. A special directorate on use of the Usoy system and Lake Sarez problems has been established in Dushanbe.
The GBAO emergency management agency jointly with international humanitarian organization, FOCUS, conducts special training for the population leaving downstream.
