KYRGYZSTAN: Flood and emergency preparedness in the south

Photo: NGO Focus

Settlements like this in the mountainous south are vulnerable to floods, landslides and other natural disasters

OSH, 30 June 2003 (IRIN) - Authorities in southern Kyrgyzstan have urged the government to declare the south an emergency area and develop a programme to move people from disaster-exposed mountainous villages to more secure places. There have been more than 50 natural disasters in the region this year alone -floods, mud-slides and earthquakes. In April, a landslide triggered by heavy rains and melting snow slammed into Karataryk, a village of between 200 and 300 people in Uzgen District about 100 km east of Osh, and killed 38 people. "There have been torrential rains for three hours and water streamed down from the Kapka mountain," Alima Ashimova, a Zulpuev village dweller, said, adding that afterwards the Chechme-Say river overflowed, demolishing her mud-walled house. She and her five children narrowly avoided losing their lives, and had been living in a shelter provided by her relatives since the disaster. "Water carried away everything we possessed, we don't even have shoes," Dinara Botobaeva from Eski-Nookat village said. But 70-year-old Kadyrbai Tashlanov doubted that the flood had been just a natural disaster. "People have built up all kinds of buildings in the forbidden area along the river's banks. When there is high water, it smashes everything," he said. Some 33 houses were flooded and Tashlanov's house could not be rebuilt, the local commission concluded. According to the local civil defence centre, there was a lack of fuel and disinfectants to cope with such disasters. International organisations could help the affected people with food, clothing and housing utensils, local authorities reportedly said. This had been the fourth flood in the Nookat District since the beginning of spring. According to the Osh provincial civil defence centre, in 2003 there have already been more than 50 floods, mud-slides and earthquakes - eight times more than during the same period the previous year. At least 39 people died, 110 houses were completely destroyed and 350 damaged, with telephone cables, electricity poles and roads all being washed away. In total, 4,000 people were been affected. Damage worth up to some US $1.5 million was reported. More than 400 families are now due to be moved from dangerous areas. Disasters, whether completely natural or contributed to by human interaction with the environment, occur regularly in the south of the country due to geological and climatic conditions. Almost 900 settlements exposed to potential mud-slides are located in Osh Province alone. Every year, millions of dollars are spent in the reconstruction and building of new roads, bridges, housing and other infrastructure. Jyrgalbek Ukashev, head of the civil defence centre in Osh, said the impact of such events on the local population could be reduced if local authorities prevented unauthorised construction of housing and businesses that were often located in problem areas. Authorities in the affected region said recently that the problem needed a fundamental solution at the governmental level. They argued that it was time to declare the province an emergency area, and start implementing extraordinary measures for the prevention of ecological disasters. The Osh governor's office has proposed that the central government conduct a comprehensive assessment of mountain villages, and identify those which remain vulnerable to disasters common in the region. In Osh Province as a whole this could involve moving up to half the mountain population to safer areas. Despite the huge social and monetary cost involved, the central government wants to address the issue, but says it requires outside help. "Our country cannot cope with this problem alone, and we do need the help of the international community," Anarkul Aitaliev, the director of the emergency monitoring and forecasting department at the Ministry for Emergency Affairs, in the capital, Bishkek, said. Local pressure groups agree that many settlements may have to be relocated, but call for better education and disaster forecasting. "People cannot stop the natural disasters such as floods and mud-slides. However, it is possible and necessary to reduce their consequences," said Adyljan Abidov, the vice-president of the Osh-based NGO, the Centre on Supporting Civil Initiatives.