KHUJAND, July 30, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Ecologists from the Tajik northern province of Sughd raise concern about environmental impact of industrial enterprises located in Uzbek border districts to the area.

In a report released at a news conference in Sughd, Khurshed Saidov, the head of the Sughd department for environmental protection, noted on July 29 that the results of the monitoring of environmental situation conducted in the Mastchoh, Spitamen, Zafarobod and Bobojonghafurov districts have shown that Uzbek enterprises have caused serious environmental damage to those districts.

According to him, the hydrometallurgical plant based in the Uzbek city of Almalyk has negative environmental impact on the Mastchoh district and the hydrometallurgical plant and the cement plant located in the Uzbek district of Bekabad have caused serious environmental damage to the Spitamen district.

“The actual environmental damage caused by the Uzbek industrial enterprises to the border districts of the Sughd province has not yet been estimated,” Saidov added.

We will recall that speaking at the meeting of Tajik parliament’s environmental commission, Amirsho Miraliyev, the first deputy head of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament, noted on June 20 that experts estimate the environmental damage from the Uzbek enterprises at hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.