The next meeting of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis was held

At the next session of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, deputies heard a report by the Minister of Water Management Shavkat Hamroyev on the construction and reconstruction of irrigation and land reclamation facilities and on the digitalization of water resources management. According to the minister, in 2023 construction and reconstruction work was carried out at 190 irrigation and land reclamation facilities, and the assigned tasks were fully completed.

In land reclamation, 230.3 km of open and 156.0 km of closed collector-drainage networks, 6 vertical drainage wells, 59 hydraulic structures and 58 observation wells were built or reconstructed. In addition, to move the irrigation system to automated management based on digital technologies, 7,339 “Smart Water” devices, 2,578 “Divers” and 271 pump devices were installed in 2023, and the management processes of 21 large water management facilities were automated.

The “Water Account” information system was created to keep water accounts and reports for each water consumer and to build a database on them. The meeting noted that the ministry has scheduled construction and reconstruction work worth 1,880.0 billion soums at 215 facilities in 2024 and is carrying out systematic work on it. During the debate, the deputies acknowledged the work done in the sector, noted some shortcomings and issues that still need to be resolved, and raised a number of questions.

In particular, the minister gave detailed answers on the measures being taken to guarantee water supply to the economic sectors of the republic and on how budget funds allocated for the concrete lining of large canals are controlled. The deputies stressed the need to set up remote control and monitoring of the digital devices installed at water management facilities in the regions, as well as remote technical services. They also made a number of proposals and recommendations to speed up the modernization of water facilities and the strengthening of the material and technical base of water management organizations through market economy principles and public-private partnership mechanisms in water management.