ReliefWeb

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Bishkek, 15 May (IRIN) - A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) survey on natural disasters in southern Kyrgyzstan shows many communities are at risk from landslides and floods. The survey, launched on Friday in the capital, Bishkek, forms part of ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of natural hazards in the country.

The survey was conducted in the most vulnerable communities of the southern provinces of Osh and Jalal-Abad - the areas most disaster-prone in the Central Asian state.

"The main priorities of the project are providing assistance to local authorities on early warning and prevention of natural disasters, as well as raising awareness of the population to the possible consequences," Arturo Hein-Caceras, UNDP officer-in-charge, said in the capital, Bishkek.

Based on the results of the survey, a special atlas was launched, containing computerised cartographic examples of disaster risk assessments for reducing the impact of natural hazards.

According to the survey, the main problems in Osh province are landslides, while in Jalal-Abad the largest risk is floods.

More than 500 natural disaster-related incidents, including earthquakes, landslides and avalanches, were registered in Osh and Jalal-Abad over the past few years. About 150 people were killed by the disasters in 2004 and 2005 in the two provinces, while the death toll in the first four months of 2006 was 23.

Emergencies Minister Janysh Rustenbekov said that around 3.5 million - or roughly 70 percent of the former Soviet republic's population - were living in disaster-prone areas, with 1.5 million of them residing in high-risk areas.

"Around 100 settlements and 70 villages in high-risk areas need to be relocated as soon as possible. But we lack additional resources and cannot help these communities," the minister conceded.

In an effort to mitigate the risks, the most vulnerable communities were identified and in six village councils and 20 villages of Osh and Jalal-Abad provinces, voluntary rescue teams are being established.

The total amount of the assistance earmarked for southern Kyrgyzstan is over US $325,000.

Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, is prone to various natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, floods, avalanches and drought. According to the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), natural disasters have killed about 2,500 people and affected some 5.5 million, almost 10 percent of the total population in the region, over the past decade.

[ENDS]