July 2001
For 50 years Soviet leaders diverted the rivers which feed the sea to irrigate cotton. And when it became clear that the land wasn't suited for the thirsty crop the planners simply increa...
July 2001 For 50 years Soviet leaders diverted the rivers which feed the sea to irrigate cotton. And when it became clear that the land wasn't suited for the thirsty crop the planners simply increased the use of hazardous chemicals. "It is the world's largest man- made environmental disaster", says Ian Small for Medecins Sans Frontiers in Uzbekistan. The charity usually operates in war zones, but for the first time it has now set up a project devoted solely to an environmental catastrophe. The war here is against tuberculosis, kidney disease and cancers - plaguing the people of the region. Some are caused by toxins, some by the high levels of salt in the water. "Almost nothing grows and it's hard for people -- salt concentrates in their joints and they can't walk for a long time...", says Aigali Tankimalov who sailed the Aral Sea for 29 years. Now the wreck of the vessel he commanded in the navy sits opposite his front door -- and the nearest water is 100 kilometres away. The last of the 20 or so species of fish that lived in the Aral Sea died out in the 1980s, the victims of an environmental catastrophe. Yet despite the dramatic evidence of environmental destruction, Uzbekistan's new leaders continue to grow cotton and scientist fear the damage is irreparable.
Produced by ABC Australia Distributed by Journeyman Pictures
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That big money can be collected for two countries Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as big as they can and as well as from well developed countries, with the help of World Bank.
The Aral sea can be restored to it's actual size when it was in 1950s-60s in just 20 or 25 years by building two big canals from Volga and Ob-Irtysh rivers, but it costs big money about $30 or $50 billion. But that solution solves 2 no 3 problems at one time. 1- restoring the Aral sea, 2- decreasing water level of Caspian sea which is becoming more dangerous for Caspian cities, 3- stop melting the ice in the Arctic ocean.
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