As part of his trip to the Khizi District, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended a ceremony to lay a foundation stone for a water discharge installation to supply water from the Takhtakorpu-Jeyranbatan canal to irrigated lands.

The 182km-long Samur-Absheron canal running from the Samur River on the Azerbaijani-Russian border is a large integrated facility of the water industry supplying 150,000 hectares of lands with irrigation water in the northern districts of the country as well as the cities of Baku and Sumgait together with the Absheron peninsular with drinking, irrigation and technical water.

Completion of construction, at the expense of loans provided by international financial organizations and funds of the State Oil Fund, of the Velvelechay-Takhtakorpu and Takhtakerpu-Jeyranbatan canals, Takhtakorpu reservoir with the hydroelectric power plant, which are part of the Samur-Absheron irrigation system reconstruction project, provided every condition for improvement of the water supply for 150,000 hectares of irrigation lands in the northern regions of the country and in the Absheron peninsular and usage of additional 30,000 hectares of new lands for agricultural needs and supplying them with irrigation water. Under instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, this project continues to be implemented.

The Head of State get familiarized with the plans for construction of diversion and transportation facilities at the northern rivers for supplying with water the Samur-Absheron canal and lands in the Shabran, Siyazan and Khizi districts, improving water supply of irrigation lands in these districts in the Samur-Absheron irrigation system zone and making available the new irrigation lands as well as used and new irrigation lands in the Samur-Absheron canal system.

Chairman of the Melioration and Water Economy open joint stock company Ahmad Ahmadzade told President Ilham Aliyev that 30,153 hectares of newly irrigated lands were determined in the zone of the Samur-Absheron irrigation system reconstruction project as a result of the studies conducted in accordance with the instructions of the head of state, over commissioning of the Takhtakorpu water reservoir, including 13,678 hectares in the Shabran districts, 7,962 hectares in the Siyazan district and 8,513 hectares in the Khizi district.

As a follow-up to the Samur-Absheron irrigation system reconstruction project, international consultants prepared project documents of melioration-related actions with application of the progressive irrigation equipment for making available new irrigated lands in the territory of the Khizi district, and began to prepare for the construction. Preparation of the project documents on the Siyazan district is nearing the end. This work is going on in the Shabran district.

Under the project, newly irrigated lands in the Khizi district were specified. They made up 9,609 hectares and 12,579 hectares of existing irrigation areas, which are planned to be improved. For transportation of the irrigation water to the used and newly irrigated lands from the recently built Takhtakorpu-Jeyranbatan canal, the project envisages construction of 261.4 km-long irrigation networks including 194.5 km-long closed and 66.9 km-long open networks. In order to improve melioration state of lands, creation of a close sewage network is scheduled in the area of 630 hectares.

It was noted that melioration-related measures have begun in the newly irrigated lands in the Khizi and Siyazan districs at the expense of the funds allocated this year by the State Oil Fund for the Samur-Absheron irrigation system reconstruction project. At the initial stage, this work is planned to be completed on the lands of 3,396 hectares to be irrigated in the Khizi district.

The project documents were prepared for construction of diversion and transportation facilities from the northern rivers of Gusarchay, Gudialchay, Guruchay, Agchay, Garachay and Jagajugchay located at the 50km section of the Samur-Absheron canal. Construction work began at the Gusarchay and other rivers this year. Upon completion of this work, there will be an opportunity to supply over 322 million cubic meters of water in the years of average water content in order to refine water delivery to the irrigated lands located around these rivers.

President Ilham Aliyev laid a foundation stone for the water discharge installation to deliver irrigation water from the Takhtakorpu-Jeyranbatan canal to the newly irrigated lands.

The head of state gave his instructions and recommendations.