In the final declaration of the World Water Forum 2012, which took place in the French city of Marseilles and was dedicated to the issues of water supply and sanitary, there was an expression of support for the government of Uzbekistan in the issue of the Rogun hydro power plant project.
The press-service of the Environmental movement of Uzbekistan informs, that the delegates of the republic expressed a compelling stand of their government on the issue of using the water resources of the trans-border rivers.
“The hydro resource of the trans-border rivers may not be viewed as national and natural because water belongs to any of the nations living in the basin of these rivers. This approach complies with the principles outlines in the conventions of 1992 and 1997. The government of Uzbekistan is opposed to the violation of the water and environmental balances, caused by the construction of hydraulic engineering construction without having an international independent expertise, which is likely to result in the damage for the countries situated in the lower course of the trans-border rivers” – press-service point out.
The official Tashkent suggested stating in the Minster declaration – the final document of the Forum – the priorities of the usage of trans-border rivers’ waters, setting the first priority for using the waters for drinking; the second priority – water used for food production, then comes the use of water for health protection and providing sanitary standards for the population. The fourth priority is stated sustaining ecological systems and the use of water for industry and electrical energy production is given the lowest priority status.
The participants of the delegation paid a special attention to the statements of the Minister declaration of the World Water Forum 2012 in which the provisions were reflected that had been formulated at the international conferences held in Tashkent,: “Trans-border environmental problems of Central Asia: using international legal mechanics for solving them” in November 2011 and “Meeting World Water Forum 2012 – Common Actions Aimed at Water Safety” in May 2011. In particular the conclusion was that the project of constructing Rogun HPP in the headwater of the Amudarya river should not be allowed to be executed, because in the opinion of Tashkent this will lead to violating the water and environmental balance as well as will cause irreversible changes in ecosystems and will surely change the social and economical situation in the region to the worse.
As the EnergyIndusty News have already reported, the official Tashkent is opposed to Tadjukistan’s plans of constructing the dam for Rogun HPP. According to the estimate this will be the highest hydro power construction in the world, its height reaching 330 meters. The assessment of the giant dam construction by the World Bank experts has not been completed yet. Despite this fact, Tajikistan demonstrates a clear intention of carrying out the project of the construction of Rogun HPP, which will allow the country to become the main exporter of electrical power to the counties of the EAST such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Метки: hydro power, Hydro power plant, Rogun hydro power plant, Uzbekistan energy industry news, World Water Forum 2012
