With the onset of autumn, people in the regions of Tajikistan have again started complaining about electricity cutoffs. People say that the lack of electricity during the cold season makes their lives more difficult and more expensive.
Fayzigul Rakhimova, a resident of Lolazor village in Mashal Jamoat (Vakhsh district, Khatlon province), has been facing the problem of electricity limits for years as the cold weather approaches.
“The electricity is cut off and it is cold in the rooms. It gets even harder for us when we run out of firewood and other fuel. How do I warm the house and cook food on days when it snows? We only get light for a few hours at night, and we have no electricity during the day,” Rakhimova said.
According to her, the money her husband sends from labour migration is not enough to buy firewood and other fuel.
Dildora, a resident of the Dangara district, says her family has been stockpiling fuel since the summer in preparation for a power shortage.
“In summer we make dung cakes (dried or processed cow dung used as fuel – editor’s note). We use it to keep the house warm,” says Dildora.
However, she says, not everyone has livestock to collect manure and make dung.
Nazokat Huseynova from Kushoniyon district said she had bought two tonnes of coal this year. But if the winter is cold and long, her family of 12 will not have enough.
“I will hope that the electricity limits will be lifted. We have a big family and it will be hard for us without electricity. Not everyone in the villages has the opportunity to buy coal. People cut trees to heat their homes,” said Nazokat.
Khatlon officials confirm electricity restrictions but describe the problem as temporary.
According to Rajabali Boyakov, chief engineer of the Bokhtar branch of the regional electric service, the authorities provide electricity from 5 pm to midnight and from 5 am to 8 am in the morning.
“In Nurek, the president discussed the energy problem; he talked about the need to save electricity. We don’t know how long this might last, but we will provide people with electricity during the cold winter days,” Boyakov said.
Another official of the same agency clarified that the limits apply only to rural areas, while urban and district centres are continuously supplied with electricity.
Matluba Khushmatova from Kubadiyon district has a small milk processing factory. But because of electricity restrictions, she has temporarily stopped working since October.
“We will only start working in the spring when the limits are lifted because our shop cannot operate during the day without electricity,” Khushmatova said.
She added that without electricity, milk and other products quickly deteriorate.
Nuriya Gulbiddinova, a resident of southern Tajikistan’s Dzhaloliddin Balkhi district, had to spend her monthly salary to buy coal, firewood and candles.
“To eat, I now have to borrow money. We are ready to pay our electricity bills on time, but we want electricity without restrictions”, Gulbiddinova complained.
The introduction of electricity limits in cities and districts not only makes life difficult for residents during the cold autumn and winter days but also interferes with their studies.
Habibullo Musoev, the principal of school №26 in Vakhsh district, Khatlon region, said that they cannot conduct computer science lessons for students because there is no electricity and computers do not work during the day.
Nazar Shodialiyev, a high school teacher in the Shahritus district in southern Tajikistan, said students are lagging behind in their lessons.
“There is no electricity during the day, and students do not attend classes where classroom computers are used. We come to work ourselves in the morning and the electricity is cut off before our tea is brewed. We can’t even have a cup of hot tea until the evening. There is no electricity in the school and our conditions are poor,” says the CABAR.asia interlocutor.
The Khatlon regional forestry department reports that with the onset of cold weather the cutting of trees increases. It is particularly common for residents to illegally cut down pistachio trees and bitter almond bushes to heat their houses.
The Kushan District department representative, Zuhrubek Sharipov, said they are arresting and fining up to 10 people every year who cut down trees to heat their homes. The introduction of electricity limits comes at a time when people are cold and need to warm their homes no matter what.
Islomiddin Umronov, a resident of Kushonien District who sells homemade stoves at the Farovon market in Bokhtar, said that since the introduction of limits, the number of his customers has increased.
“I sell homemade stoves at the market, which are fueled by firewood and coal. Since electricity limits were introduced, my business has boomed – I now sell up to ten stoves a day. I also live in a village, and we have electricity only at certain hours”, Umronov said.
Khatlon is one of Tajikistan’s most populous regions, where 90 per cent of the population lives in rural areas. Every year, they experience problems with electricity from autumn to spring.