08.02.2022

On February 8 President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on improving a potable water supply in the regions.

This issue is a priority in all social programs. Over the past five years, 10 trillion Uzbek soums, or 5 times more funds than in previous years, were allocated for this direction. During this period, for the first time 6.5 million people received access to centralized potable water supply.

In particular, in 2021 474 facilities were built and about 6.3 thousand kilometers of water supply networks were laid. The water supply was improved for more than 2 million people at 592 makhallas (the local residential community areas).

Along with this, there are still unresolved problems in the sphere. Thus, the level of potable water supply in Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya and Jizzakh regions is less than 60 percent. In Guzar, Dekhqanabad, Kasan, Sherabad, Angor, Gallaorol and Khatyrchi districts this indicator is below 30 percent.

Therefore, in the next five years it is set to invest 40 trillion Uzbek soums in this sphere, to provide 90% of potable water and 35% of sewerage coverage. This year, 2 trillion Uzbek soums will be allocated from the budget and 245 million dollars will be attracted for this purpose.

President has stressed that the main attention will be paid to the areas with low level and quality of water supply.

Thus, at 1,545 makhallas there is no centralized water supply system. The responsible officials were instructed to study the available opportunities and take measures to organize their water supply in one of the following three ways. First, centralized water supply can be established at makhallas with necessary infrastructure. The second way is to construct wells where there are the underground fresh water supplies. The third way – in villages, where there is no possibility to construct wells and lay networks, the large-capacity reservoirs can be constructed to be filled with imported water.

The measures on attraction of private sector to the mentioned works are determined. The subsidies will be provided to entrepreneurs for construction of water facilities, purchase of special machinery and equipment to cover expenses on loans as for exceeding the 14 percent interest rate. The customs duties on imported equipment and machinery will be canceled. The income, property, land and social tax rate for water supply enterprises with private sector participation will be set at 1 percent. The amount of payment for private water services at makhallas will be determined by agreement with local Kengashes (councils).

 Based on this, a task was set to simplify the procedure of placing social orders, selecting private partners and financing projects.

 It was commissioned to develop separate program on Kashkadarya region where a potable water supply indicator - 42% is the lowest in the country.

The need to provide 2,000 kindergartens, schools and medical institutions with potable water in the next two years was emphasized and the sources to finance this work were identified.

As it is well-known, the projects in this area are mainly developed by engineering companies of “Uzsuvtaminot” JSC. Now, to speed up the work, the engineering companies in the regions will be transferred to regional khokimiyats (governors’ offices). The development of design and estimate documentation, identification of contractors and opening of financing will also be implemented in the regions. The Ministry of Housing and Communal Services and the “Uzsuvtaminot” JSC will define the technical requirements to the projects, conduct the expert reviews and be responsible for the facilities operation. The meeting has touched upon protection of rivers and underground water resources.

Out of 8 thousand wells operating today, 1.5 thousand are in deteriorated condition. As a result, the water supply to 2 million people in almost 800 makhallas has deteriorated. The level of groundwater in these settlements decreased to 30 meters from the surface due to drilling of wells in the deposits in the Zaamin, Nurata and Kushrabat districts, uncontrolled and indiscriminate extraction of sand and gravel from the Zeravshan and Chirchik rivers.

 In this regard, it was determined that henceforth the identification and drilling of water wells will be carried out only by the State Committee on Geology. The responsible agencies were instructed to make an inventory of wells and put in strict order on the banks of rivers.

An urgent issue is also to improve the system of exploitation in the districts. Many districts lack special equipment.

In this regard, the importance of empowerment of district water supply organizations was pointed out. Thus, the power to determine the list of paid services and funds coming from them will be transferred to district water supply organizations. The system of allocation of funds from district and municipal budgets to local enterprises «Suvtaminot» for repair of potable water networks, elimination of emergency cases and purchase of special equipment will be introduced.

The instructions were given to expand the sewerage networks in 28 cities and towns, including Bukhara, Jizzakh, Gulistan, Shirin and Yangiyer. The necessity of erecting the local sewage facilities at the “New Uzbekistan” Residential Areas was pointed out.

The officials in charge of the sphere and khokims (governors) reported on the issues discussed at the meeting.