To reduce water losses used for irrigation, the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan plans to fully concrete Big Chui Canal. Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bakyt Torobaev, announced at a meeting of the Committee on Agrarian Policy, Water Resources, Subsoil Use, Ecology, and Environmental Protection of Parliament.
He was responding to a remark by MP Azizbek Tursunbaev, who noted that current water losses in the Big Chui Canal amount to 40–50 percent and stressed the need for cleaning and concreting works, as the canal supplies water to the entire Chui region.
According to him, the Big Chui Canal is divided into two sections: the eastern section starts in Kemin and runs through the Chui region, while the western section passes through the city of Bishkek.
«We have plans to fully concrete the Big Chui Canal. For this purpose, we are taking a $23 million loan from the EBRD to cover 12.5 kilometers. We are also requesting funds from the state budget, and additionally from the ADB to concrete a total of 100 kilometers. I agree that water losses reach up to 40 percent,» Torobaev said.
He also reported that the Cabinet of Ministers plans to build 106 water reservoirs.
«Work is ongoing to repair reservoirs that have remained since Soviet times,» Bakyt Torobaev added.
