ICRC (press release), Switzerland
azerbaijan-news-010708
1-07-2008 News release 08/117
Azerbaijan: Safe water reaches conflict-affected villagers
Baku (ICRC) ` Families living in the village of Ayridara, along
Azerbaijan’s border with Armenia, will soon have access to safe
drinking water thanks to a water project carried out by the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in cooperation with
the local authorities and the community.
"Fourteen years have passed since the Nagorny Karabakh ceasefire was
announced, but access to clean water is still an ongoing concern for
the civilian population living in conflict-affected villages," said
Juan Carlos Carrera, the head of the ICRC’s office in Barda.
"Residents of places like Ayridara are regularly prevented from
getting access to safe water because many springs are located between
military positions or too close to the front line," he added.
The ICRC’s community-based water supply project will make a steady
supply of clean water available to Ayridara’s 150 residents. Work
started in April and involved upgrading 1.25 kilometres of pipeline
and the installation of two reservoirs and two containers for
collecting spring water.
"The water supply system in Ayridara was built during the Soviet era
and had fallen into disrepair, so villagers were forced to carry water
in buckets from other places," said Bakir Guliyev, the ICRC’s engineer
in charge of the water project.
"Residents helped us dig trenches for the pipe work and were happy to
have contributed to this achievement. We have had the active support
of both the local administration and the villagers."
For further information, please contact: Gulnaz Guliyeva, ICRC Baku,
tel. +994 12 465 63 34 or +994 12 465 64 52