Background:
The winter of 2007-08 was Tajikistan's worst in decades. Unprecedented low temperatures froze and damaged many of the small-scale water supply systems in rural areas. Those that were not damaged did not have an electrical supply to power the pumps. The energy supply in Tajikistan has been severely compromised due to lack of water in the central hydroelectric dam. A lack of electricity for pumping resulted in use of unprotected, possibly contaminated water sources and contributed to poor sanitation and hygiene conditions.
Use of unsafe water increased risks of infectious disease outbreaks, especially in rural areas where populations drank water from open irrigation channels, ditches and standing pools frequented by animals and contaminated with faeces.
Typhoid and other disease outbreaks were a major concern. At particular risk were ‘forgotten’ segments of the population including people with disabilities and women heading households with small children. They needed extra support to procure safe water supplies.
Action:
Working with local governments, community organizations, and social workers, Mission East distributed kits composed of water treatment tablets along with information leaflets on how to treat water and avoid water-related disease transmission. It also included information on how better hygiene can also lower likelihood of disease outbreaks. More than 12,500 families (nearly 88,000 people) received tablets and information kits. Recipients lived in the southern Khatlon Province and in the northern Sughd Province.
After the initial emergency receded, Mission East began to work with community groups in the southern Khatlon Province to repair quickly the damage to burst pipes, water storage tanks, and taps anticipating new outbreaks if water flowing again through unsafe systems. Engineers identified ten priority villages in Kulob and Vose Regions (with approximately 3,390 households, or 24,000 people). Their water systems were either broken completely or damaged by the freeze. Work on these systems consisted mainly of pipe and tap replacement, welding, and replacement of pump parts. |
Aim:
First to provide chlorine tablets and hygiene education materials to 12,554 households after severe winter conditions froze pipes and prevented water systems from functioning, increasing risks of disease outbreaks. Second, as modified, to repair pipes and water systems broken by the freeze.
Donor: Danish Missionary Council Development Organisation
Project Code: TAJ-DMCDD-003
Location: Khatlon Province; Kulob,Ziraki, and Dahana Districts. Sughd Province; Aini and Penjakent Districts |
