Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Environmental changes connected with the shrinkage of the Aral Sea were accompanied by a decrease in the water flow into the delta, and as a consequence, it has resulted in the worsening of drinking water supply - an increase in the mineralization of ground waters, a shortage of quality drinking water supply, which, in turn, have caused a sharp increase in a sickness rate among the population.

These reports were made by the chairman of the Uzbek State Committee for Environment Protection, Boriy Alikhonov, for the first time at a session of the World Water Congress-2008 in France.

The head of the Uzbek environment protection agency said that its social and economic consequences were catastrophic for the districts, which were in the epicentre of the crisis - [northwestern] Karakalpakistan, Khorezm, and parts of the Bukhara and Navoi regions of Uzbekistan, as well as for Kyzylorda [Region] of Kazakhstan and Dasoguz Region of Turkmenistan.

"More than half of the population in the regions, especially, residents of villages have to use badly-filtered and strongly-mineralized water, which in most cases, fails to meet hygiene standards on chemical and microbiological indicators.

The quality of water being supplied to the population through the pipeline system in Karakalpakistan does not meet norms, set for water, by 30 per cent, and in some districts such as Takhtakopir or Nukus, the figure reaches 95 per cent. And in the districts like Shumanoi, Amudaryo and Beruni, which are connected to the centralized water supply system, this figure is only 20-22 per cent.

The quality of water being supplied to the population through the water pipeline network in Khorezm Region also fails to meet the norms for drinking water by 20-25 per cent, and in some districts, for example, in the town of Urgench by 53.7 per cent," the document says. Sanitary and hygiene studies, being conducted in the region by the public health department, prove the fact that low quality of drinking water in the region affects the growth of infectious diseases among the population, the majority of them suffer from acute enteric infections.

The sickness rate in Karakalpakistan exceeds the average rate in Uzbekistan by 11.2 per cent. "Into the dangerous phenomena of the environmental crisis in the Aral Sea and the region, currently, one may include the removal of salts and dust from the drought-hit bottom of the Aral Sea by storms rich in toxic substances, which cause air pollution because of the decay and corrosion of organic substances.

The harmful phenomenon affects negatively the environment and also poses a serious threat to the public health, causing chronic diseases of blood, respiratory tract, kidney and other vital parts of human body," the chairman of the environment protection agency said. He also drew attention to the fact that Karakalpakistan was on the top of the list according to a TB rate - 135.5 people per 100,000 population, the figure throughout Uzbekistan is 67.5.

"An impact of unfavourable environmental factors on human health is specified with a high rate of primary disability among the population. Thus, if according to an average rate, there are 25 disabled persons per 1,000 people throughout Uzbekistan, then in some districts of Karakalpakistan and Khorezm and northern districts of Bukhara Region, the figure reaches 75-100 persons," Alikhonov concluded.