Development of Inert Materials. Otkuk Area.
The most common type of extraction of inert materials in Kyrgyzstan for construction includes non-metallic building materials such as crushed stone, sand, gravel, limestone, gypsum, anhydrite, and others. Their extraction exceeds the total extraction of all metallic and energy raw materials by more than one and a half times. No construction site can do without these materials, whether it be roads or houses.
The overwhelming majority of the non-metallic raw materials used are extracted by open-pit methods. The only effective limiting factor remains the process of land withdrawal from agricultural use on the surface terraces for quarries. This method of addressing the region's ecology is hard to call effective.
The open-pit method of mineral extraction has the most negative impact on the environmental situation in the area of operations. As a result of anthropogenic impacts on the environment in the quarrying zone, there is a noticeable deterioration in the ecological conditions for human existence. For example, air, soil, groundwater, biota, and abiota pollution.
The burden on the land use area and the system of surface and groundwater during extraction operations is expressed in the potential contamination of soil and aeration zones with production and consumption waste and wastewater. To assess the impact, the volumes of generated wastewater and production and consumption waste are determined, along with a rational scheme for water consumption, wastewater disposal, and solid waste management.
The impact on wildlife in the areas under consideration is expressed in the exclusion of land withdrawal areas as habitats, in the factor of disturbance related to the presence of people, machinery operation, and vehicle movement. During the work, the areas occupied by quarries will naturally be excluded from the seasonal migration routes of mammals. The planned activities cause a change in biotopes and their relocation to adjacent territories with identical characteristics, which does not affect the status of populations of common animal species in the area due to the small size of the quarries.
The impact on vegetation during quarry extraction is expressed in land withdrawal, disruption of soil cover, and natural grassland. After the work is completed, the reclamation of disturbed lands to the level of pasture agricultural land or recreational areas is planned, which will lead to the restoration of the natural habitat for vegetation and animals.
In addition to the problems mentioned, there are other equally pressing issues related to the use of exhausted quarries as sites for household waste storage and their use as unauthorized landfills.
As of today, the ecological situation in Kyrgyzstan is on the brink of catastrophe. It is necessary to tighten state control over the implementation of reclamation activities for disturbed lands and the protection of the environment by mining enterprises and to eliminate unlicensed extraction.
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