DUSHANBE, September 22, 2011, Asia-Plus --  A joint disaster response exercise for Tajik and Kyrgyz rescue teams is being conducted in the Lakkon Jamoat of Sughd’s Isfara district today.

The deputy chief of staff of the Sughd emergency management agency, Hoji Muzayanov, told Asia-Plus that the exercise scenario is based on a devastating earthquake and the dyke breach at the Tortkul reservoir.

“The purpose of the exercise is to rehearse coordination and interaction between the rescue services of the two countries in mitigating disaster effects and evacuating the population,” the Sughd emergency official said, noting that the exercise has involved some 400 people.

Today, Tajik and Kyrgyz rescuers will sign an agreement on undertaking joint actions in mitigating effects of natural disasters, Muzayanov added.  

We will recall that the emergency ministers of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on August 19 signed the agreement on the establishment of a Central Asian Center for Disaster Response and Risk Reduction.  The center’s main objectives are to bolster regional coordination and cooperation in reducing the risk of natural and manmade disasters by developing and strengthening institutions and their capacities.  The project has the support of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as well as Europe’s Department of the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection.