Heavy rains and floods cause havoc

A week of heavy rain in Tajikistan has damaged hundreds of houses and destroyed crops and transport infrastructure in the former Soviet republic, according to officials. "The country suffered extensive damage because of heavy rains and flooding since 7 May," Mirzo Ziyoyev, the Tajik emergency ministry, told journalists on Wednesday in the capital, Dushanbe. According to the emergency ministry, more than 660 houses and 12 km of roads were destroyed by flooding, as well as 320 hectares of cotton and other crops. Half a dozen bridges have been washed away along with electricity pylons and telegraph poles. In the village of Kuktosh in Rudaki district, some 30 km south of the capital, over 200 homes and buildings have been destroyed. Some districts of the southern Khatlon province were also affected, with 36 houses being damaged and part of the local railway line being washed away. In the eastern Murgab district, unexpectedly high temperatures and snow meltwaters forced the local Aksu river to burst its banks, flooding the main road and a bridge connecting the village of Subosh with the district centre. Eight homes were damaged and more than 60 people left homeless in the area. Heavy rains also affected the Rasht Valley, where the extent of the damage had yet to be determined. Meanwhile, emergency ministry officials were working to tackle the problem and provide relief to the communities affected. In Rudaki district, local residents living in high-risk areas have been resettled and in temporary shelters and emergency supplies. "The relief work is going on but it will require huge efforts and resources to rehabilitate roads and bridges," Ziyeyev said. A government commission has been established to assess the amount of damage the country has suffered. Tajikistan is prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, floods, avalanches and drought. In 2003, 120 incidents of flooding, avalanches and landslides were recorded in the country as well as 12 significant earthquakes, according to the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO). Natural disasters have killed about 2,500 people and affected some 5.5 million (almost 10 percent of the total population) in Central Asia over the past decade, ECHO reported.