July 2001
For 50 years Soviet leaders diverted the rivers
which feed the sea to irrigate cotton. And when it
became clear that the land wasn't suited for the
thirsty crop the planners simply increased the use
of hazardous chemicals. "It is the world's largest
man- made environmental disaster", says Ian Small
for Medecins Sans Frontiers in Uzbekistan. The
charity usually operates in war zones, but for the
first time it has now set up a project devoted
solely to an environmental catastrophe. The war
here is against tuberculosis, kidney disease and
cancers - plaguing the people of the region. Some
are caused by toxins, some by the high levels of
salt in the water. "Almost nothing grows and it's
hard for people -- salt concentrates in their
joints and they can't walk for a long time...",
says Aigali Tankimalov who sailed the Aral Sea for
29 years. Now the wreck of the vessel he commanded
in the navy sits opposite his front door -- and
the nearest water is 100 kilometres away. The last
of the 20 or so species of fish that lived in the
Aral Sea died out in the 1980s, the victims of an
environmental catastrophe. Yet despite the
dramatic evidence of environmental destruction,
Uzbekistan's new leaders continue to grow cotton
and scientist fear the damage is irreparable. Tags :UzbekistanAralSeacottonindustryAigaliTankimalovJourneymanPictures