President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have visited Ashaghi Kondalanchay reservoir in Fuzuli district.
The head of state was informed of the technical parameters of the reservoir.
The water source with a total capacity of 9.5 million cubic meters enabled the irrigation of 62,000 hectares of land. After the occupation of Fizuli district by Armenian invaders in 1993, the operation of the reservoir by Azerbaijan became impossible. During the occupation, the Armenians, who committed environmental terror on our lands, cut off the water in the seasons when there was a great need for it in economic activities and released it from the reservoir during floods or when there was no need for water, thus causing Azerbaijan serious problems.
President Ilham Aliyev said:
- This is the Kondalanchay reservoir. It was in the hands of the enemy for many years. For many years, we were deprived of this water. After the second Karabakh war, it is already in our hands and will serve the interests of the Azerbaijani people. This reservoir was built on the instructions and initiative of great leader Heydar Aliyev in the early 1980s. Its primary objective was to develop agriculture in Fizuli district, as thousands of hectares of land were irrigated from this reservoir. As a result of the Patriotic war, we now control both the Sugovushan and the Kondalanchay reservoirs. Relevant instructions have already been issued for the future operation of these reservoirs.
A map of water sources in all our liberated lands is being developed now. All our water resources, rivers, lakes, reservoirs – all this wealth is in our hands now. To use this water efficiently, funds have already been allocated for the construction of new canals and the restoration of old ones. Relevant instructions have been issued and an extensive program launched.
Some time ago, I sent a group of experts to the Kondalanchay reservoir. The condition of this reservoir has been assessed, and, of course, we will use this water when life returns to these areas. During the occupation, the contemptible enemy deprived us of water. Since the Sarsang reservoir and the Sugovushan reservoir were in the hands of the enemy, 100,000 hectares of land were left without water. For this reason, hundreds of artesian wells were drilled in a number of districts to improve water supply. Aghdam, Tartar, Barda, Yevlakh, Goranboy and other districts were deprived of water from the Tartar River. I was recently informed that more than 30,000 hectares of land were supplied with water from the Sugovushan reservoir after the Patriotic war. At the same time, the Khachinchay reservoir in Aghdam district is also under our control. It has been liberated from occupation. In fact, that reservoir is larger in size than this one. I want to say again that all our water resources are being evaluated and analyzed and will give us a great advantage in the future.
We have returned to our native lands, we have returned to Fuzuli. The Kondalanchay reservoir is in our hands and this will be the case forever.
