The Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Sapar Isakov instructed to mobilize all the resources of state bodies to solve the problem of air pollution in Bishkek. The Public Relations and Media department of the government’s executive office reported.

The head of the Cabinet of Ministers held a working meeting with participation of all relevant state bodies on the development of a comprehensive action plan for improving the environmental situation in Bishkek, in particular, addressing the air pollution problem.

The head of government noted that the environmental situation issue in the capital is one of the most urgent and actively discussed among the public. According to him, smog that adversely affects the health of citizens is observed in Bishkek, caused by the pollution atmospheric air by harmful substances.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for detailed study and development of effective measures to address this issue in a comprehensive manner.

The First Deputy Prime Minister Askarbek Shadiev noted that, according to the instructions given earlier by the head of government, the relevant government agencies conducted the necessary studies on air pollution.

Director of the State Inspectorate for Environmental and Technical Safety Kanatbek Muratbekov said that the motor vehicles are the most intense source of air pollution in Bishkek.

According to him, private saunas working in the capital and the suburbs of Bishkek also have a significant negative impact on the state of atmospheric air in the capital.

He added that the conducted studies at the Bishkek Heating and Power Plant showed that due to its modernization and installation of modern smoke cleaning filters, emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere are minimal.

Chairman of the Board of National Energy Holding Company Aibek Kaliev said that an independent environmental company is being selected to conduct an environmental assessment, which will give an opinion on how much Bishkek HPP pollutes the air in the capital.

Director of the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry Abdykalyk Rustamov noted that the annual total amount of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere in Bishkek is 240,000 tons and motor vehicles account for 180,000 tons of them.

Sapar Isakov instructed to develop a detailed plan of measures to minimize emissions of harmful substances from the boiler houses in Bishkek and their gradual transfer from solid fuels to alternative sources.

In addition, participants of the meeting noted the need to introduce a technical inspection for motor vehicles. Sapar Isakov stressed the need for an integrated approach in working out this issue in order to eliminate corruption risks. According to him, the introduction of an effective technical inspection for motor vehicles will also reduce the amount of harmful substances in the atmosphere.

The Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan instructed to create a working group of representatives of relevant state bodies and civil society to develop effective measures to reduce the level of air pollution and improve the environmental situation in Bishkek.

The Prime Minister instructed National Energy Holding Company to consider the possibility of installing modern cleaning filters and applying advanced technologies to the remained chimneys of Bishkek HPP built in the early 1960’s,1970’s and 1990’s of the last century and to complete this work by the heating season of 2018-2019.

In addition, the relevant state authorities were instructed to make proposals on the development of an appropriate norm of legislation to control the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere.

The Bishkek City Administration has been instructed to develop a conceptual project on landscaping of the capital and submit it for consideration to the government of the Kyrgyz Republic.