Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

President Ilham Aliyev has urged a close analysis of all water resources potential in Azerbaijan, including the territories liberated from Armenia’s occupation in a 44-day war in 2020, Azertag has reported.

He made the remarks while receiving in a video format meeting Zaur Mikayilov due to his appointment as Chairman of Azerbaijan Melioration and Water Management Open Joint Stock Company on April 5.

"The potential of all our water resources both in the liberated lands and in other parts of the country must be carefully analyzed. Specific programs and proposals must be submitted to make the best use of these water resources," he said.

Aliyev underlined that specific programs and proposals must be submitted to maximize the use of the country’s water resources.

“The main principle should be modernity, environmental safety and maximum efficiency so that the people of Azerbaijan, those engaged in agriculture see positive changes in their lives,” the president added.

He stressed that in recent years, this area was considered a priority, a lot has been done to develop this area, and a lot of money has been allocated from the state budget.

“If this had not been done, we would be facing major problems today. But we must not be complacent with these achievements and should bring modern governance practices to this area,” he underlined.

The president stressed that one of the important issues is the implementation of reclamation measures on the country’s territories liberated from the Armenian occupation.

“We have large water resources in the liberated lands and our water sources generate from there. We have been deprived of these opportunities for many years – for almost 30 years. Armenia pursued a policy of aggression against Azerbaijan in this area too,” Aliyev said.

He noted that the Sarsang and Sugovushan water reservoirs were built by great leader Heydar Aliyev in the 1970s for irrigation in Aghdam, Tartar, Goranboy, Barda and other regions and stressed that they were under Armenian occupation for many years as well.

“But the Armenians cut off our water, deliberately let released it in winter to cause environmental damage and cut off the water in the spring and summer, so we were left without water,” he stated.

He stressed that a special plan of measures for irrigation in these areas have been prepared, and hundreds of sub-artesian wells were drilled there.

“After Sugovushan came under our control, there was an opportunity to significantly improve the water supply of Aghdam, Tartar, Barda, Goranboy and other districts. However, the canals leading to these districts have not been used for many years. It is necessary to analyze what their condition is now and if there is a need for repair. This work should be examined so that we can make water available to our people without wasting time,” the president stated.

Stating that there are other reservoirs on the liberated lands, the president stressed that all their parameters need to be analyzed, to use these reservoirs effectively.

Aliyev noted that there are great river resources on the country’s liberated lands.

“Today, our rivers originating in the liberated lands are our main rivers. The Tartarchay originates in the territory of Kalbajar region. But the contemptible enemy deprived us of the water of the Tartarchay. When I enquired about this problem during my repeated visits to the Karabakh region, I saw that it creates big problems. For example, the water of Tartar was completely cut off. The Tartarchay river was almost dry in many places. Now we have returned to the Tartarchay, to its source,” he said.

Aliyev stressed that there has to be done a proper analysis of the flow of the rivers so that it will be possible to use them effectively.

Furthermore, the president stressed that the issue of whether there is a need to build reservoirs on liberated lands should be considered.

“Of course, our largest source of water in the liberated lands is Khudafarin and Giz Galasi reservoirs on the border with neighbouring Iran. These are very large reservoirs. The volume of the Khudafarin reservoir is 1.6 billion cubic meters - it is a very large reservoir. In order to use this reservoir, of course, additional infrastructure projects must be implemented,” Aliyev said.

“First of all, canals must be built so that we can take water from these reservoirs to the liberated lands – Zangilan, Jabrayil, Gubadli and other districts, and use it effectively. This has great potential,” the president added.

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