Catalog

Calming Troubled Waters
ADB Review [ October 2005 ]

Acute pressure on land and water in a densely populated border area has sparked numerous conflicts between Tajiks and Kyrgyz. Now UNDP is building bridges between the two communities

By Ian Gill, (igill@adb.org)
Principal External Relations Specialist

FRESH START It is up to this boy’s generation to shed prejudices

From distant snowcapped mountains, the Isfara River tumbles past tall poplars on its descent into the valley. Amid such serenity, it is hard to imagine that this river has inflamed violent passions in recent years.

A telltale sign of the fierce competition for its resources is the diversionary canals, both at the river’s headwaters in the foothills and at a downstream distribution center.

Standing on a bridge at the distribution center, manager Ibrahim Khusenov points down to a canal that diverts one third of the river to the Kyrgyz Republic, while the rest flows to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“The growing population and development of agricultural land have sparked a lot of conflict over water,” he says. Farming is the main source of subsistence here, especially since many industries collapsed after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

At the root of the tension is the ambiguous border that divides Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, resulting in many disputes over land—and the water to irrigate it.

Two community leaders, a Kyrgyz farmer and a Tajik doctor, explain why water is so bitterly contested—and how they are seeking to resolve the issue peacefully. The farmer, Talay Ibraimov, is the elected head of Aksai, one of several Kyrgyz villages bordering the Tajik enclave of Vorukh. The doctor, Zabiyuvlo Teshaev, lives in Tojicon, one of the enclave’s many Tajik villages.

NEAR THE BORDER, the diversion canal on the right takes water to the Kyrgyz Republic, and the rest goes to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Standing in his parched field, Mr. Ibraimov gestures futilely toward apricot trees that withered from lack of water. He airs a complaint expressed by his compatriots: they are not receiving enough water from an irrigation canal that flows through Tajik land.

Countering this, Dr. Teshaev says the Tajik community cannot meet its own water needs, let alone the Kyrgyz requirement. “There is not enough water to begin with—and the irrigation system is old and inefficient,” he says.

This dispute goes back to 1975 when, following a violent feud, the Soviets brought in the army and enforced an agreement under which the Kyrgyz were to give land to the Tajiks, in return for a share of water from a canal. To this day, the Kyrgyz say the Tajiks have not kept their side of the bargain, while the Tajiks say the agreement was not tenable.

In fact, the quarrels go back to the 1930s when the nomadic, cattle-breeding Kyrgyz came down from the mountains to find their pasture land occupied by Tajik farmers, who said they had settled on unoccupied lands.

Attempts by intergovernment committees to demarcate the border have not been successful: the Tajiks base their claims on a 1924 map while the Kyrgyz refer to a 1958 map.

Prejudice, fear, and resentment—as well as a siege mentality—have spilled over into aggressive action at times. Early last year, for example, Tajik farmers planted fruit trees in a disputed border area. In response, Kyrgyz villagers pulled the trees from the ground. The Tajiks replanted them. Such scenes were repeated before the Kyrgyz threatened to bring in troops.

But today there is fresh hope. Mr. Ibraimov and Dr. Teshaev say their communities want to end decades of distrust.

With support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swiss Development Corporation, the communities joined forces to rehabilitate an irrigation canal and work out a new system of sharing the water.

IN DEFENSE Tajik doctor Zabiyuvlo Teschaev says the irrigation system is old and inefficient

Also, a UNDP grant has repaired a pumping station so that river water can be carried more efficiently to farms of both communities on higher ground. The pumping system has limited effectiveness, as it depends on expensive electricity, but other ways of alleviating the water shortage are being considered. One is the construction of a gravity-fed canal from the mountains, says Abdiraim Jorokulov, a Kyrgyz-based UNDP manager, though he adds this would be a costly project.

Meanwhile, UNDP is also trying to promote better relations by building a medical clinic and a youth center, facilities that the communities will share.

“We are building on what Tajiks and Kyrgyz already share—similarities in culture, religion, traditional values, and historical background,” says Bahrom Faizullaev, a Tajik-based cross-border coordinator with UNDP. “There has been a thaw in relationships.”

Dr. Teshaev, who will be the new clinic’s in-house medic, hopes the youth center will encourage a new generation, less fettered by the past, to build bridges for the future. “Two of my children went to a summer camp for both ethnic groups—they had a great time and made many Kyrgyz friends,” he says.

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