At the Cabinet session held on 31 August a decision was made to carry out beautification works around “Altyn Asyr” lake, which is located in the natural basin of Karashor, on the border of Balkan, Dashoguz and Akhal velayast.
— The area is currently an environmentally friendly zone where residential districts should be built, — President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov concluded.
Esenmyrat Orazgeldiev, who oversees the agro-industrial complex, was charged with the task of setting up manufacturing facilities to process the collected water and developing fish farming on the lake, the state information agency TDH reports.
The construction of the artificial pond “Altyn Asyr” in the Kara-Kum desert was launched in 2000-s under the first President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov.
The decision was made to fill the natural of Karashor with drainage waters from Lebap, Mary and Akhal and for this purpose a 800-kilometer collector had been dug.
The streambed gradually changed as the sand drifts got into the collector. The water washed out the shore and flooded huge areas to form lakes, which occasionally dry out to leave salted infertile soil.
More information about the lake is available in the article “Pertaining to the sad fate of “Altyn asyr” water reservoir.