Landslide destroys dozens of houses in Tajikistan

A landslide in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAR) in eastern Tajikistan has buried dozens of houses under dirt and stones.

A spokesperson for the Tajikistan's governmental emergencies committee,Orif Nozimov, said the natural disaster "destroyed 56 households, washed away a school, six shops, roads and overhead power lines."

The official added that the local residents are still facing risk from floods and are being evacuated to safe areas.

Three helicopters are evacuating the residents at present, and delivering food, tents and essentials to the areas where "many people have already lived in nearby mountains for three days," he said.

"At the altitude of about 2,500 meters above sea level, the landslide blocked the River Gunt (a tributary of the Panj River on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan), leading to formation of an artificial water body which has gradually started covering the areas of the villages of Barsem and Berdikov," the spokesperson said.

A governmental commission has been deployed to the disaster zone to assess the damage.

There are ten small hydro-power plants in GBAR, generating electricity for 210,000 people living in the region.

Moreover, landslides in Shugnan and Roshtkali districts and in parts of the Rushan and Ishkoshim districts led to power cuts.

The Shugnan and Roshtkali districts have a total population of 64,000 people and are situated about 30 to 50 kilometers from Khorugh, the administrative center of the region, which is itself 520 kilometers southeast of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

The government spokesman added that 4.5 kilometers of highway had been washed away, including 2.5 kilometers of the international highway between Khorugh and Osh connecting GBAR to the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan, and farther to China.

Mountains cover around 93% of Tajik territory. Precipitation in the mountains often causes rockfalls, avalanches and landslides leading to significant damage in valleys.

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