Water Problems Plague Major Tajik Town

Basic access to clean water remains limited in and around the town of Kulob (Kulyab in Russian) in southern Tajikistan.

Residents complain that even when nothing comes out of their taps, they still get charged water rates by the municipal authority.

In apartment blocks in the towns, the main problem seems to be lack of pressure, so that water does not reach people living on higher floors. In the countryside, some villagers are reduced to collecting clean water from several kilometres away on animal-drawn carts.

Officials say the mains system built in the 1970s is falling apart, and there is no money to refurbish them as local industries are not paying their water bills. Others argue, however, that the money has in fact been available, including funding from international donors, but that if it has been spent at all, it is to no visible effect.

Health experts note that outbreaks of typhus and other diseases associated with impure water are common in and around Kulob, Tajikistan's third-largest city. 

The audio programme, in Russian and Tajik, went out on national radio stations in Tajikistan, as part of IWPR project work funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.