On the Bishkek–Osh Road, a Fuel Tanker Overturned: A Leak of Oil Products into the River Occurred
A traffic accident on the Bishkek–Osh road involving a fuel truck resulted in the death of a woman and contamination of the Kara-Balta River with petroleum products.
On November 4, an accident occurred beyond the "Sosnovka" checkpoint. A 40-ton fuel truck loaded with fuel oil was traveling from the Jalal-Abad region. On the slippery road, the driver lost control, the vehicle overturned, and it crushed the rear part of a minivan. It later became clear that the fuel truck had collided with a Honda Odyssey car. The female passenger of the minivan died at the scene. No one else was injured.
Several days later, residents of three villages in the Taldy-Bulak rural district of the Jayil region began to notice characteristic streaks in their drinking water, indicating the presence of petroleum products. After that, those who owned cars brought drinking water from the city of Kara-Balta, others used melted snow, and some were forced to use contaminated water for cooking. Villagers found out that as a result of the overturning, the fuel oil had spread along the road for several hours and likely entered the Kara-Balta River, which is a source of drinking water. Villagers waited two days for a response from the local government and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but not receiving any, they decided to go out and clean the water body themselves,” said a resident of the village of Bokso-Jol, Eldiyar.
The Deputy Akim of the Jayil region, Asylbek Nurbekov, reported that on November 9, together with representatives of law enforcement agencies, they carried out the necessary work. Armed with tools, residents began to manually cut down reeds and remove contaminated sand from the shore of the water body.
The water in the "Taldy-Bulak" basin comes from the Kara-Balta River, then drinking water flows through three pipes to the villages of Bokso-Jol, Kayirma, and Bekitai in the Taldy-Bulak rural district, and part of the water again enters the Kara-Balta River. If the water body is cleaned manually, it will take 1-2 months. “Ideally, all the water should be drained from the basin, the shore should be cleared of reeds and sand where the remnants of fuel oil have settled using an excavator, then the shores should be treated with disinfectants, and only then should it be filled with water,” said a resident of the village, Eldiyar.
According to the National Statistical Committee, as of the beginning of 2021, there were 2,944 people living in the Taldy-Bulak rural district: 1,183 in the village of Bokso-Jol, 642 in the village of Kayirma, and 1,119 in the village of Bekitai.
The villagers are asking for help in resolving the situation.
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