Aral Sea On Death Row, Says Ban Ki-moon
April 5th, 2010 - 7:25 pm ICT by GDBy Madhuri Dey
Nukus, Uzbekistan, Apr 5, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, commented on Sunday that it was imperative for the nations to take some immediate steps in order to curb the process of the fast drying up of the Aral Sea, which he regarded as one of the greatest environmental disasters. He made the observation on a visit to the five countries that comprised the erstwhile Soviet Russia. He hailed the drying up of the sea to be a natural calamity that would be having great consequences, something, it has to be admitted, can be noticed even now. Ban Ki-moon went on an aerial visit of the Aral Sea as part of his tour.
According to Ban Ki-Moon, he was not able to see a single thing in the entire Aral Sea except a whole lot of ships that were docked. According to statistics, the Aral Sea, which had been the fourth largest lake in the world, shrunk by almost 90%, thanks to the diversion of the rivers that fed it in order to irrigate the cotton fields. The initiative had been taken during the Soviet-era, and has not been corrected since.
This measure has led to a lot of unfortunate consequences. The fishing industry is dying, and the salty sands pose numerous health problems. The General Secretary of the United Nations requested all the leaders of the neighboring nations to put a halt on their mutual differences and sit down to solve the grave problem. However, that does not seem an easy task, given that the countries are bitterly divided upon the question of the propriety of the water of the Aral Sea itself.
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