Almaty, Atyrau, Kyzylorda and Mangystau regions are leaders in rural water supply

Issues of water supply in rural and urban areas were considered at the government session chaired by the Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov. Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Kairbek Uskenbayev, Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Serikkali Brekeshev, akims of Kostanay, Akmola and Almaty regions presented their reports.

According to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairbek Uskenbayev, by the end of 2021, access to water supply services in the country amounted to 96%, including 98.1% in cities and 93% in villages. In some regions, there is a lag. The lowest level of drinking water coverage in villages is observed in Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions. In terms of urban water supply, the lagging region is the Zhambyl region.

The urban population of North Kazakhstan, Mangystau, Atyrau and Kyzylorda regions is 100% provided with access to water supply services. The leaders in rural water supply are Almaty, Atyrau, Kyzylorda and Mangystau regions.

“In order to increase the level of water supply, lagging regions with low indicators are allocated funds on a priority basis. This year, 215 billion tenge is provided for these purposes from the republican budget, taking into account the clarification, including 120 billion tenge in cities and 95 billion tenge in villages. This will allow, by the end of the year, to provide access to 98.5% of the urban and 94.7% of the rural population,” Uskenbayev said.

In total, there are 6,302 villages in the country, of which 4,759 have access to water supply services. Of the unsecured villages, it is planned to continue the construction of centralized water supply in 511 villages. Comprehensive block-modules will be installed in more than 1,000 sparsely populated villages at the expense of the local budget, of which this year it is planned to provide another 120 villages with centralized water supply and install KBM in 220 sparsely populated villages.

“To monitor the provision of villages with water supply, we have developed an interactive map that is publicly available on the Internet. The map reflects up-to-date information on water supply, financing, need for funds, population, length, wear, etc.,” he added.

Given that the provision of the population with high-quality drinking water is under constant control, local executive bodies need to ensure high-quality and timely filling in of data in an interactive map. In order to improve the map, measures have been taken to include additional functions for feedback from the population through a single platform for receiving and processing all citizens' appeals (e-otinish).

The purposeful policy of the state to provide drinking water to the people of Kazakhstan has yielded tangible results. However, there are a number of problematic issues that need to be addressed. To date, in 54 villages where the construction of centralized water supply is planned, prospecting and exploration work has not been carried out by the akimats of Turkistan region in 30 villages, Almaty region in 7 villages, West Kazakhstan region and Zhambyl region in 5 villages. At the same time, today, due to the migration of the population, it is necessary to expand the water supply networks in 50 villages.

For example, in the village of Kendala, Almaty region, the existing water supply network was built in 1969, and now reconstruction is required to fully provide the population of the village with drinking water. The Minister of Industry also noted that over the past five years, the population has grown from 5.8 thousand people to 9.5 thousand people. The estimated need from the budget for the expansion of water supply networks in such villages will be about 40 billion tenge. In this regard, in order to ensure 100% supply, akimats need to develop design estimates for the expansion of water supply networks.

Kairbek Uskenbayev drew attention to the fact that in practice the constructed water supply networks remain on the balance sheet of akimats or are transferred to non-core enterprises or organizations that do not have qualified specialists and specialized equipment for proper operation.

“In total, according to akimats, in 275 villages, water supply networks are served by akimats and in 335 villages, enterprises with unusual functions are served. In turn, this leads to rapid deterioration of networks, which requires additional budgetary costs for restoration. In this regard, for the proper maintenance of networks, it is proposed to consolidate water utilities according to the principle of “one enterprise in one area”. This will improve the quality of the service provided and the efficiency of work,” the minister said.

He also added that local executive bodies need to take measures to improve the material and technical base of water utilities by increasing the authorized capital at the expense of the local budget. The implementation of the instructions of the Head of State depends on the joint and well-coordinated work of local executive bodies.

Serikkali Brekeshev also noted that the issue of providing the population with high-quality drinking water is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Ecology. Thus, in accordance with the Water Code, the department carries out the functions of water supply to the boundaries of settlements and is the administrator of the budget program for the construction and reconstruction of group water pipelines.

“Currently, there are 76 group water pipelines in the republic with a length of 15.5 thousand km, of which 39 group water pipelines with a length of 13.4 thousand km are owned by the republic. They provide drinking water to 655 rural settlements with a population of 1.4 million people,” he said.

In 2021, 5 facilities for the construction and reconstruction of group water conduits were put into operation in Akmola, Karaganda and North Kazakhstan regions. Also, in a test mode, high-quality drinking water is supplied to 3 facilities in Aktobe, Karaganda and Kyzylorda regions. As a result, 800 km of networks were built. 5 rural settlements with a population of 5.8 thousand people received access to high-quality drinking water, and water supply was improved in 51 rural settlements and 3 cities with a population of 203 thousand people.

This year, it is planned to put into operation the Eskulin water pipeline, which was launched in 2010, and allocated funds in the amount of 6.1 billion tenge for the implementation of 18 facilities for the construction and reconstruction of group water pipelines in Almaty, Atyrau, Karaganda, Kyzylorda, Mangystau and North -Kazakhstan regions. The completion date is 2023-2024. As a result, water supply will be improved in 158 rural settlements with a total population of 458 thousand people.

Within the framework of the National project "Strong regions - the driver of the country's development" until 2025, it is planned to build and reconstruct 9 group water pipelines with a total cost of 33 billion tenge.

In general, by 2025, having built about 1.2 thousand km of group water pipelines, it is planned to provide 41 rural settlements with a population of 22.3 thousand people with high-quality drinking water.

Akim of Almaty region Kanat Bozumbayev said that there are 742 settlements in the region, 10 of them are urban and 732 are rural. Access of the population to water supply services in cities is 99.5%. Out of 732 rural settlements, 92% are provided with centralized water supply, 54 SNPs are provided with decentralized water supply, and 9 SNPs are supplied with imported water.

“This year, 16 projects are being implemented in rural areas, 8.4 billion tenge has been allocated. 209.6 km of networks will be built and reconstructed,” said Bozumbaev.

Upon clarification of the republican budget of the current year, an application in the amount of 6.1 billion tenge for the implementation of 15 projects was approved, the deterioration of networks will decrease to 41%. In addition, in order to reduce the deterioration of networks in rural areas, 55 projects are being developed for the reconstruction of approximately 760 km of networks. The implementation of these projects is envisaged in 2023-2024. As a result, network wear and tear will be reduced from 41% to 32%.

Also in the cities, 13 design estimates for the reconstruction of networks are being developed. The implementation of these projects will reduce network wear and tear from 44% to 38%.

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