Turkmenistan takes measures to stop freezing of Amu Darya
By Jamila Babayeva
Turkmenistan has adopted various measures to stop freezing of Amu Darya River which provides 90 percent of the country's water resources.
Turkmenistan's Ministry of Water Resources has elaborated on the measures in an official report to the President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
Berdimuhamedov had ordered the ministry's officials to do their best to prevent from freezing of the Amu Darya in cold weather.
He had also dispatched a delegation from the Minister of Water Resources headed by Seyitmyrat Taganov to the Lebapsky district to take necessary measures.
Amu Darya River, the largest river in Central Asia works as a border line between Afghanistan , Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan is dependent on the water resources of our rivers based on agreed quota: the Amu Darya, Tejen, Atrek and Murghab.
The right bank of the Amu Darya River potentially holds hydrocarbon resources. The coastal field Bagtyyarlyk is an appropriated route for the transportation of Turkmen gas to the Chinese market.
The gas pipeline Turkmenistan - China was put into operation in 2009. It passes through the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The pipeline was constructed by CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation), which is active in extraction of raw materials on the right bank of the Amu Darya.
In 2012, Turkmenistan joined the U.N. Convention on the protection and usage of transborder rivers and international lakes signed on March 17, 1992.
The European Economic Commission of the UN welcomed the recent decision of the Turkmen parliament saying this was a large step in the right direction that is expansion of border cooperation and joint water resources management.