A Last Movement for a Lost Sea

Abstract

This chapter addresses the Aral Sea disaster, not as an acute event demanding emergency response, but with a long-term view aimed at determining the causes of the disaster and providing analysis and troubleshooting to prevent such catastrophes in the future.

Emergency response requires quick action and no cost is spared. Such actions look very bold and are very often used to enhance the public image of politicians, businessmen, and leaders of various organizations who have rendered assistance.

The second direction, described here, is a more complicated and thankless task. The investigation faces obstruction from those who caused the disaster or who can use the crisis situation to their advantage. It is hard to get financing for long-term solutions. This chapter describes the key causes of the death of the Aral Sea. I then describe our engagement in the hard work of looking for ways to correct errors and provide innovative solutions that would satisfy the majority of stakeholders.

The UN Declaration for Human Rights on the availability of clean water gives a new context for the case made in this chapter. Here I argue that all people along the rivers of Central Asia (and elsewhere) share the same rights to have enough high-quality water and to fully enjoy a healthy environment, regardless whether they live upstream or downstream.

Citation

Kamalov, Y.S. (2012), "A Last Movement for a Lost Sea", Edelstein, M.R., Cerny, A. and Gadaev, A. (Ed.) Disaster by Design: The Aral Sea and its Lessons for Sustainability (Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 77-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0196-1152(2012)0000020016