Severe energy crisis leaves Tajikistan without heat and water in harshest winter in 30 years; CARE to provide emergency supplies to elderly and orphans
Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Feb. 7, 2008 - A severe energy crisis combined with the harshest winter in 30 years has left millions of people in Tajikistan facing food and fuel shortages, and the situation is expected to worsen in the coming weeks, CARE warns. The same severe weather and heavy snowfall that crippled neighboring China has left parts of Tajikistan, a poor country of just seven million people, without heat or water in temperatures that are dropping to -25C at night.
"We are already in a food emergency situation. One meal a day is not uncommon, and food prices are rising," said Louis Alexander, Country Director for CARE in Tajikistan. "People usually have three months' food supply in the winter, but now they are down to one month. They are selling their livestock and household assets just to buy enough food to eat and fuel to heat their homes. People are running out of money, and they won't have money to buy seeds for the planting season when spring comes in March or April.
"They are selling their future security just to survive the winter."
CARE is already working to meet the food needs of the most vulnerable people in Tajikistan, distributing food to 12,000 students and 4,400 pregnant and lactating women as part of a multi-agency food distribution program. In response to the current crisis, CARE is preparing to distribute additional food, heating stoves, coal, blankets and other emergency supplies to more than 6,000 extremely vulnerable people such as orphans and the elderly, and provide basic health services through mobile health clinics to remote communities. CARE is appealing for additional funds to expand the emergency response in the coming days.
"Elderly people living alone with little or no income are helpless victims of this crisis situation," added Alexander.
Tajikistan usually suffers electricity shortages in the winter, but record-low water levels in the reservoir that feed the country's main hydroelectric system have made the situation worse. Many rural areas have access to just one or two hours of electricity a day. Even in the nation's capital, Dushanbe, electricity is limited, leaving urban residents without power to heat their homes.
Heavy snowfall has blocked roads in some areas, cutting off or slowing access to critical medical services and markets. Water pipes have frozen solid, leaving many people without access to water.
"We are preparing for the worst-case scenario," said Alexander. "It's expected that the water level in the reservoir will reach a critical point by mid-February, which will reduce the electricity supply to the country by nearly half."
The government of Tajikistan has appealed for international aid. CARE is coordinating closely with other aid groups and local governments to respond to the crisis.
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Media Contact:
Melanie Brooks, mbrooks@care.org, mobile: +66.(0).81.915.8108
About CARE: CARE is one of the world's largest independent aid organizations providing emergency relief and development projects in 69 countries around the world. CARE has worked in Tajikistan since 1994, implementing projects in food security, disaster mitigation, basic and reproductive health, agriculture and livelihood security, water and sanitation, and small income generation activities.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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