Tajikistan: Floods and Landslides - Jul 1999

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In October 2006 an Asian Development Bank (ADB) operations evaluation mission visited Tajikistan to evaluate the 1999 Emergency Flood Rehabilitation Project. The Project was the first ADB disaster and emergency assistance to the country.

Tajikistan is prone to natural disasters. Each year, the country experiences about 50,000 landslides, 5,000 tremors and earthquakes, and hundreds of avalanches and debris flows. In July 1999, intense monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides that were unprecedented in intensity and extent.

I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1. Floods and landslides in July 1999 damaged public infrastructure in Tajikistan significantly. The need was urgent to help the Government cope with the disaster, especially considering its budgetary constraints, which were expected to continue over the medium term. The Emergency Flood Rehabilitation Project was initiated to help the Government rehabilitate public infrastructure in the affected areas, and to mitigate the risk that these expenditures would disrupt the Government's macroeconomic stabilization and post-conflict development programs.

ISLAMABAD, 27 August (IRIN) - Aid workers in Tajikistan have welcomed a Saudi-funded project to reconstruct a stretch of road damaged by landslides and mudslides over the years. The road is a vital link between the remote eastern Badakhshon Province and central areas and is critical for food aid deliveries to Afghanistan from Central Asia.

News Release No. 121/99 - 02 December 1999

Press Inquiries Only
Contact: Rita R. Festin
Tel. No. (632) 632-5881

Minister of Agriculture Sherali Safarov told Interfax on 6 August that this year Tajikistan is likely to harvest only 380,000 tons of cotton or just over half the planned target of 600,000 tons. He blamed the shortfall on shortages of fuel and spare parts for agricultural machinery and on the torrential rains in Khatlon Oblast last month. In 1997, Tajikistan harvested 385,000 tons of cotton. LF
=A9 1999 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

WEEKLY NEWS 29/99

Ref. OCHA/GVA - 99/0092

The Disaster

Ref: OCHA/99/0084
TAJIKISTAN FLOODS/LANDSLIDES
OCHA-GENEVA SITUATION REPORT No. 2

The Disaster
On 7 July the Federation Delegation in Tajikistan was informed of a massive landslide or debris flow in Asht Rayon, Leninabad Oblast, in northern Tajikistan. The disaster was caused by heavy rains triggering debris flows and landslides in the narrow valleys in Asht Rayon which run south from the mountains on the Uzbekistan border. The landslides are substantial, covering a large area, and large boulders have been carried down into populated areas. The worst affected areas are the villages of Dokhana, Pongos, Shaidon, Bobodarkhon, and Hishton.

At least 35 people have died and up to 30 are missing following a series of mudslides that have devastated villages in northern Tajikistan over the past three days. The presidential press service reported that the country will appeal for
international aid for reconstruction of the villages affected. LF
Copyright (c) 1999 RFE/RL, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Ref: OCHAGVA/99/0079
Tajikistan Floods/Landslides
OCHA-Geneva Situation Report No. 1

MOSCOW (July 8) XINHUA - Eighteen people were killed and 50 missing overnight when a torrent of mud came down on the village of Shaidon in the Leninabad region in northern Tajikistan, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

The Tajik Committee for Emergency Situations said the flow of mud destroyed about 150 residences, a 20-kilometer stretch of road, 15 kilometers of electric power lines and 10 kilometers of communication lines.

Search and rescue operations have been launched at the scene of the disaster, but the efforts were hampered by poor weather.