The Aral Sea has shrunk to a fourth of its size. Neha Mungekar travels to Uzbekistan and recounts how it remains a living sample of a monumental human-made ecological catastrophe
IN MODERN times, the health of an economy is deemed far more vital than that of the ecology. Re-routing rivers, realigning water bodies, focusing on mono culture cultivation, creating cities next to transport corridors and then transporting water to places with scarce groundwater has become the norm across the world. Sudden prosperity may validate this development pathway, but the irrevocable damage to nature is catastrophic. Aral Sea is one such story.
In the 1960s, the Aral Sea region used to support a thriving fishing industry. Even earlier, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, which used to feed this inland lake, provided water to the oasis towns that gave birth to the historic Silk Route. During the Soviet rule, Uzbek towns near the Aral Sea were forced to shift their livelihood to cotton mono culture farming. Ill Conceived Soviet irrigation schemes reduced the water flow from the rivers needed to replenish the Aral Sea.
Today, the lake—which was called a sea due its sheer size and salinity—has reduced to a mere 25 per cent of its original size. From being as big as the state of Punjab, it is now smaller than the size of Goa because of the re-routing of Amu Darya and Syr Darya to give impetus to cotton production. Although the Aral Sea disaster—a human made environmental catastrophe—was realised in the late 1990s, its consequences are becoming even more evident today.
In the 1960s, the depth of the lake was 68 metres. Today, it is less than 10 metres. A relatively shallow water level spread across a large surface area has led to faster evaporation. This has caused over 90 per cent loss in the volume of water in the last six decades. Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, it now hosts travellers who visit to witness the apocalyptic landscape.
Layered problems
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 1, 2017 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 1, 2017 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
JOINING THE CARBON CLUB
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.