Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 11
By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:
The Minister of Water Resources of Turkmenistan, Seyitmyrat Taganov spoke about the measures taken to prevent the Amu Darya River from freezing, the Turkmen TV channel Altyn Asyr said on Feb. 11.
The report was presented to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow during a work meeting.
According to the TV channel's information, the leader of the nation told the managers to pay attention to the issue and prevent the freezing of the Amu Darya.
The Turkmen President also sent the minister of Water Resources on a trip to the Lebapsky district to get acquainted with the situation and take necessary measures, according to the TV channel.
Turkmenistan borders with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Afghanistan and uses water resources coming from four rivers: the Amu Darya, Tejen, Atrek and Murghab in accordance with the approved quota. The Amu Darya River provides 90 percent of water in Turkmenistan.
In 2012, Turkmenistan joined the U.N. Convention on the protection and usage of transborder rivers and international lakes on March 17, 1992.
The European Economic Commission of the U.N. welcomed the decision of the Turkmen parliament declaring that this is an important step on the way to strengthening of transborder water cooperation and water resources management.
The right bank of the Amu Darya River potentially holds hydrocarbon resources. The coastal field Bagtyyarlyk is a source for the transportation of Turkmen gas to the Chinese market.
The gas pipeline Turkmenistan -the People's Republic of China was put into operation in 2009 via the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. This pipeline was constructed by CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation), which has the license on the extraction of raw materials on the right bank of the Amu Darya.
Translated by R.A.
Edited by C.N.