Azerbaijan, Baku, May 15 / Trend K. Zarbaliyeva /
The main reason for flooding on the river Kura is abundant rainfall, Azerbaijani Minister of Environment and Natural Resources said at a press conference on Saturday.
Bagirov said that water level is expected to increase as a result of melting snow in the mountains by late of May. Regular monitoring is held to prevent disaster in the rivers Kura and Araz.
"We must return lands used for agricultural purposes. It is necessary to build dams in densely populated areas to prevent flooding on the Kura River ", minister said.
However, it would be wrong to completely close the river by dams.
Floods in 40 Azerbaijani regions have been recently registered. About 20,000 houses were flooded, more than 300 destroyed, 2,000 were in emergency condition, 50,000 hectares of cultivated land were under water as a result of the disaster.