An unprecedented fuel and energy crisis alarms Tajikistan, impelling officials to announce a state of emergency. Prolonged power outages and an unusually long period of extremely cold weather has caused a food shortage. Intensely cold weather is wiping out hundreds of hectares of agricultural crops, leaving many gardens and vineyards desolated by the frost. Damage estimates run in the millions of dollars. While the government is appealing for international help, experts predict that a humanitarian catastrophe is unavoidable.

Rigid power curfews were enforced throughout Tajikistan several weeks ago. If the situation was severe in early January, the energy crisis is now turning into a considerable humanitarian catastrophe. In the wake of government incompetence, people are left to suffer the harshest winter in recent years. Due to the unfolding crisis, foreign diplomatic missions warned their citizens to postpone visits to Tajikistan.

Most households in Dushanbe have power for ten hours per day, whereas the rest of the country is supplied with energy for less than two hours. In many houses, the sewage system went out of service due to frozen water facilities, leaving many people without household water. The supply of natural gas to households is also restricted to several hours per day and in some cases it has even stopped altogether, because many people cannot afford to pay for gas after the price hike in late January. Small generators, known as dvijok, are one of the few popular ways to have uninterrupted light in the houses. One dvijok can generate enough power to have lights in one room and the TV running. This method, however, is quite expensive and requires 1.5 liters of gasoline per hour.

Not only households are on a restricted schedule but also most businesses, which, with the exception of several strategic ones, have had to interrupt work and thus send employees into involuntary, unpaid vacation. This includes small-scale private businesses, restaurants and cafés. Experts estimate the total material damage of the cold weather at approximately $US250 million.

Tajikistan is paralyzed and plunged into darkness and the power situation does not appear to be improving. With the cold weather and resulting drop in inflow (on February 12, the water level was only 2.5 meters above the critical point), Tajikistan’s main hydro station, Nurek, threatens the imposition of more severe energy restrictions to the country.

According to official statistics, approximately 232 newborns died in maternity wards during the last two months, because of the power cuts applied to the hospitals. It is rather uncertain whether “Barqi Tojik”, the official power provider for hospitals, will be held accountable for the loss of these lives.

Prolonged cold weather has seriously damaged the agricultural sector. Around 700 hectares of potato fields and vineyards are completely destroyed. Most of the fall’s harvest perished in the frost. The acute food shortage and the price hikes this generated are realities of today’s Tajikistan, and experts estimate that the food shortage is likely to last for the whole spring until the new harvest. The shortages are particularly damaging in the mountainous, remote districts, where, according to UN information, more than 550,000 people suffer from severe shortage of produce, with 250 needing immediate help.

According to experts, if immediate measures to alleviate the energy shortages are not taken, the energy crisis can become unmanageable and trigger uprisings and riots. Consequently, The Tajik Government has already asked the international community to help alleviate the consequences of the natural disaster brought by the prolonged cold weather conditions and severe energy crisis.

External aid started arriving last week, when Turkmenistan sent eight trucks of diesel oil. During an official meeting with Emomali Rahmon, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agreed to speed up the construction of Sangtuda 2 and to invest in the construction of another small-scale hydro project. The Kazakh ambassador, Erlan Abil’daev, said that Kazakhstan would immediately send wheat, flour, as well as combustive-lubricating material. In addition, the United States sent $US2.5 million. According to the US embassy news release, these funds will be spent on fuel, heaters, warm clothes and medicine and will be spread among the population. Various International Organizations such as the UN, Care International and OSCE have also been actively involved.

Spring does not bring much promise. The food shortage will persist, prices for basic goods will rise due to the shortage, and, above all, people have ever less money, since the biggest part of household income is spent for heating. In the near future, when the thaw begins, there will also be a high level of landslide and flood risk.