Turkestan and Kyzylorda regions reduce rice planting areas
Reconstruction of 259 hydro-technical installations in the basins of transboundary rivers is carried out in Kazakhstan. According to the Ecology Ministry, mechanical cleaning of 535km of main and interfirm channels as well as the purchase and installation of 67 pumping installations is carried out. The said works are to be completed by the end of June this year.
«In Almaty region, in order to alleviate the water stress, the region's governor's office reduced the cultivation of water-intensive crops, including rice by one thousand hectares in Balkhask district. The region's all reservoirs are used according to the approved schedule for the vegetation period. In Zhambyl region, the schedules for supplying water to the inter-State facilities have been approved. As of now, the large-scale work to reconstruct irrigation networks, with irrigation water is to be supplied through bypass channels, is underway,» said Brekeshyev at a meeting of the Government.
According to him, the rice planting area was reduced to 600 hectares in Turkestan region this year. Kyzylorda region reduced the area under rice to 78.3 thousand hectares, 5 thousand ha smaller than in the previous year. Also, the funds to the tune of KZT3.6bn for repair works and drilling wells as well as purchasing pumping installations have been allocated from the Government's reserve.
«The governor's offices of the southern regions carried out the cleaning of channels, use water-saving technology, organize water reuse, and sequential order of watering,» said the head of the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology, Geology, and Natural Resources.
Earlier the Ministry of Ecology of Kazakhstan informed about the stabilization of water management situation in the basins of the Syr Darya River.