Government of Kyrgyzstan admits that a serious air pollution problem has arisen in Bishkek, which poses serious risks to health. A spokesman for the prime minister told 24.kg news agency about instructions given by Mukhammedkaly Abylgaziev.
The main reasons for the deterioration of air quality in Bishkek are associated with errors made in different years in planning the urban environment, when infill construction, especially in central and southern parts, had a negative impact on the wind rose and airing of the capital. Great damage to the ecological balance and clean air is caused by heating of private houses with coal and by automobile exhaust gases.
The situation is aggravated by the lack of national standards for measuring air pollution. With this in mind, environmental organizations should be honest with the public and warn about errors in the data they submit, and government agencies should not lose touch with reality and close their eyes to problems.
Mukhammedkaly Abylgaziev keeps the issue under personal control and requires specific proposals. He instructed the Bishkek City Administration and the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government in Chui region to hold talks with Gazprom Kyrgyzstan and speed up the connection of residential buildings to gas.
Within two weeks, officials should make specific proposals on expanding the use of gas motor fuel and switching the public transport fleet to gas.
It is necessary to study the possibility of introducing a complete ban on the construction of high-rise buildings in the territories that provide for the ventilation of the city.
He instructed the Ministry of Health with interested international partners to conduct a detailed assessment of the health effects of air pollution with setting the threshold levels of pollution that have a harmful effect on health.
According to Mukhammedkaly Abylgaziev, the development of green areas, switch of business to environmentally friendly technologies, up to the rejection of the use of plastic products, will be a fundamental solution to environmental problems in the capital.
