Risk of further flooding in the south

Water levels at the Chardara reservoir in southern Kazakhstan remain too high with over 1,300 people being evacuated to date. "The water is still coming as it was and there is still a risk of the Chardara bursting. The issue has yet to be resolved," Kairzhan Turezhanov, the Kazakh emergency situations agency spokesman told IRIN from the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty on Monday. Water discharge from the Chardara was still 700 cu m per second, one of the primary causes of flooding, as there had been no decrease in water levels flowing into the reservoir, he explained, adding that there had yet to be results in reducing water discharge from Kyrgyzstan's hydroelectric power station reservoirs upstream to the agreed levels. Indeed, according to 'Yugvodhoz', a regional organisation responsible for water management in the area, water in the Chardara had increased to more than 40 million cu m over the past week reaching a dangerously high level of 4.9 billion, while the total capacity of the Soviet-built reservoir stands 5.2 billion. Meanwhile, parts of the Syrdarya river, in the Kazalinski district of the southern Kzyl-Orda province remained partially frozen, blocking the river's flow and resulting in substantial flooding of low lying areas, said the emergency agency. "In Kzyl-Orda city's riverside areas most of the river surface is free of ice, but in Yagodka and Sauranbai communities and Aleksandrovsk village, the river is still partially frozen," Turezhanov said, adding that works on reinforcing river embankments in Kzyl-Orda were now under way, with an 18 member group from ROSO (National Operational Rescue Team) also set to participate in the effort. To date 1,317 people have been evacuated since water levels began to rise in late December, Turezhanov said, adding that the Kazakh Red Cross and Crescent Society was assisting them with food and clothing. The Chardara reservoir started operating in 1964 and was built for irrigation purposes. It was designed to control the flow of the Syrdarya, a key water source in Central Asia, preventing flooding during high water times and acting as a water source during dry periods.