Kazakh Leader underscores importance of prudent use of Aral Sea irrigation waters
Taking the opportunity of extending Eid al-Adha greetings, Nursultan Nazarbayev wished well-being, peace, and prosperity to fraternal peoples.
The President of Kazakhstan pointed out that the Aral Sea crisis has become one of the biggest environmental disasters in human history and mentioned that over the past half-century, the area of the sea and the volume of water have decreased by 9 and 30 times, respectively.
"From the dried-up bottom of the Aral Sea, winds raise up to 80 million tons of poisonous salts per annum. Dust storms carry them many thousands of kilometers from Western Europe to the peaks of the Himalayas, having a negative impact on the health of people and ecosystems of all our countries," the Head of State said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev underscored that the sides deemed it necessary to appeal to the world community, the UN, and all funds and banks that deal with this problem, to support the efforts of IFAS founder states aimed at improving the environmental situation in the Aral Sea region.
"We, in turn, agreed to improve the Fund's activities. In a narrow-format meeting, we frankly and honestly discussed all issues, including the reconsideration of obsolete decisions, and also analyzed the activities of all its governing and executive bodies," the President of Kazakhstan said.
The Head of State underlined the importance of the prudent use of irrigation water, as well as modern technologies including drip irrigation that reduces water consumption by 50%-60% and increases productivity by 4-5 times.
"There were very useful proposals based on modern scientific approaches. For instance, to fix salt at the bottom with green plants that are resistant to it. This will help improve the environmental situation and, at the same time, will serve as a source of food for farm animals," said Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The President of Kazakhstan pointed out that all proposals are enshrined in the Summit Communiqué. He said that the Turkmen side will summarize them, and the Executive Committee will draft a clear plan for further actions.
The Head of State also mentioned that the sides discussed the issues of the rapprochement in their stances on the region's water management, water energy, and environmental aspects, and stressed that Kazakhstan highly appreciates the results of the negotiations.