Azerbaijan Reassesses Reserves Of Non-Metallic Mineral Deposits In Lachin

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 25. A regular meeting of the working group on environmental issues of the Interdepartmental Center operating under the Coordination Headquarters established for centralized resolution of issues in Azerbaijan's territories liberated from Armenian Occupation was held in Lachin, Trend reports.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the relevant state structures included in the working group, the Interdepartmental Center and special representation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Lachin district of East Zangezur economic region, special representation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan districts of East Zangezur economic region, special representative office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the territories of the Karabakh economic region (except for Shusha region) liberated from occupation, public law legal entity "Rehabilitation, Construction and Management Service No. 1 in East Zangezur Economic Region".

The Special Representative of the Azerbaijani President in Lachin district, which is part of the East Zangezur economic region, Masim Mammadov, informed about the restoration and reconstruction of Lachin, planning and design to ensure further development of the city, and the activity of the Zerti agro-industrial park. It was noted that special attention is paid to environmental issues within the framework of construction, restoration, and reconstruction activities carried out in Lachin.

Nusrat Suleymanov, Deputy Head of the Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan and Head of the Secretariat of the Interdepartmental Center, in connection with the work of the Interdepartmental Center as well as projects implemented in Eastern Zangezur within the framework of the "I State Program of "Great Return" to Azerbaijan's territories liberated from occupation", informed in detail about the work done to resettle and provide jobs for the population in Lachin city and the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects, underscoring the importance of the implementation of the projects in Lachin city.

The head of the working group, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Vugar Karimov, informed about the environmental activities carried out by the Ministry in Lachin district, including reforestation and the creation of new green areas and measures to restore the functioning of specially protected natural territories.

Joint exchange of information with experts involved in the issue related to the assessment of environmental damage caused during the 30-year period of Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories in the international legal framework

Out of 40 ore and non-metallic mineral deposits registered in the territory of the district before the occupation, 36 were monitored and inspected, and their reserves were re-estimated.

It is planned to install an automatic radio-ecological station equipped with relevant instruments and equipment in the territory of Lachin district, as well as put into operation an automatic meteorological station.

In order to restore the ecosystem in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation, along with reforestation, the creation of new green areas, and the restoration of infrastructure, reintroduction projects for fauna species are being implemented in specially protected natural areas. For this purpose, 5 falcons and 4 East Caucasian turs were released in Lachin district, and 33,500 trout and carp fry (white amur and white carp) were released into the Hakari River basin. In Lachin district, 3,600 saplings of various tree species were planted, and 100 kilograms of oak seeds were sown. In the territories liberated from occupation, on a total area of 160 hectares, more than 124,000 tree saplings were planted, 3,000 kilograms of oak and eastern sycamore seeds were sown, and a drip irrigation system for watering green plants was installed.

Also, within the framework of the I State Program "Big Return" in 2024-2026, reforestation activities are planned in Lachin district on the area of 195 hectares of the forest fund, as well as activities for the restoration of Lachin State Nature Reserve and Garagol State Nature Reserve.

Head of the Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Faig Mutallimov noted that in Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenian occupation, in order to ensure a closed-cycle economy and rational use of natural resources, processing of construction waste generated during the restoration and reconstruction of Kangarli village in Aghdam district was started.

Chairman of the Board of the State Agency for Environmental Expertise of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Mirsalam Ganbarov, informed about the issues of environmental assessment of projects implemented in the territory of Lachin City, environmental impact during the implementation of road infrastructure projects, and the prospects of preservation and restoration of green areas during the implementation of infrastructure projects in Lachin City.

The representative of the State Water Resources Agency of Azerbaijan provided information on work on the reconstruction of drinking and waste water systems in Lachin. Taking into account the perspective development of Lachin, new design and estimate documentation on the creation of a drinking water supply system, rainwater management, and wastewater management was prepared. To provide the city with stable and quality drinking water, the existing six sub-artesian wells near Sus village are being rehabilitated. A pumping station, drainage chamber, disinfection unit, warehouse, and other auxiliary buildings have been constructed in the area of the wells.

The pumping station is equipped with pumps, a generator, and two transformers to ensure a stable power supply. The drinking water supply to Lachin will be realized using stage pumps. From the water source to Lachin, a 10-kilometer-long main water pipeline with steel pipes has been constructed. The construction of a 3-point pumping station is being finalized to pump water from the source to the city tanks. The new infrastructure in Lachin City will be managed based on a smart water system. Water withdrawal from the source, operational status of sub-artesian wells, reservoir level, and hydraulic regime will be regulated by SCADA systems.

Azer Shukurov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the State Agency for the Use of Mineral and Raw Materials Resources, informed about the appeals received regarding the organization of effective use of mineral deposits, use of modern technologies, provision of raw materials required for road construction work, as well as construction and reconstruction work carried out in Azerbaijan's territories liberated from Armenian occupation.

Director General of the Institute of Microbiology of the Ministry of Science and Education and member of the working group on environmental issues, Panah Muradov, informed about the prospects of the restoration of kahriz systems and their use in water resource management. It was recommended to conduct relevant studies to assess the economic aspects of the development of the kahriz system in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation and the management of available resources.

The representative of the Azercosmos agency provided information on the work on the preparation of digital and topographic maps for Azerbaijan's Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions, the assessment of soil erosion risk in agricultural areas, the current state of existing water management and land reclamation facilities for rational use of water resources in Azerbaijan's areas liberated from Armenian occupation, and the monitoring of fires in these territories.

Representatives of other state bodies touched upon the perspectives of using construction wastes as secondary raw materials as well as the utilization of hydropower potential, in particular the rivers of Lachin district.

At the meeting, the relevant structures were instructed to develop a map for the timely prevention of forest fires, take urgent measures to create water sources, and carry out other necessary work.

Then, the participants became familiar with the work of the Zerti agro-industrial park.

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