DEVELOPMENT OF IRRIGATION SYSTEM REMAINS IN THE FOCUS OF NKR LEADERSHIP ATTENTION

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
March 19 2007

In the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic 1000 Hectares out of 60 000 arable
lands are irrigated, or 5-6% of water’s total reserves are used,
NKR PM Anoushavan Danielian stated, answering the questions of Azat
Artsakh newspaper web site’s readers.

"We shouldn’t wink at the fact that 50 000 of Stepanakert inhabitants
receive water every other day, and yet for one or two hours", the PM
stated. In his words, the development of irrigation system remains
in the focus of the government’s attention.

Anoushavan Danielian said according to the specialists’ researches,
there were inexhaustible reserves of water in the Nagorno-Karabagh.

According to the specialists’ estimation, the NKR water resources
enable to accumulate over 95 millions cubic meters of water (without
Sarsang reservoir) and irrigate 21 000 hectares of land.

According to the PM, with the help of Armenia’s specialists the works
on elaborating technical and economical documents of water and economic
objects have already been completed.

The implementation of the program on transfer of waters of the river
of Trge to the Sarsang reservoir is being carried out.

As a whole, irrigation of about 8 000 hectares of land by water are
to be ensured until 2010. Only in 2007 about 2 milliards drams will
be allocated from the state budget for the purposes of irrigating.