Khujand, Tajikistan: We sit in an unheated restaurant wearing hats, coats and scarves. We are four – three Tajik women and one American – and we have come for lunch. As an American, the experience of dining in sub-freezing temperatures is strange for me, but to a Tajik it is the norm in wintertime.
Farhanaz* is 24, a Tajik woman with long, beautiful dark hair and slightly slanted brown eyes. “I used to be a very patriotic girl,” she says, her face as serious as her words. “I used to think I must stay in Tajikistan and work for the good of the country. But now, I have decided I must leave.”
For three weeks now, Farhanaz has been living without heat in her apartment in Khujand, Tajikistan. The problem began in mid-January, when a cold snap sent temperatures in the region plunging to record lows and spurred an energy crisis that has left millions without heat.
“My apartment is so cold, I must sleep under five blankets,” says Farhanaz, whose apartment receives only one to two hours of electricity a day. “I go there now only to sleep. I am not living. I am just surviving.”
As one of the poorest countries in the region dependent upon its neighbors for energy in the winter months, Tajikistan is being hit especially hard by the crisis. Uzbekistan has responded by cutting power to Tajikistan, stating it needs the resources for its own citizens. Combined with spikes in the price of gas and the breakdown in many areas of Tajikistan’s antiquated, Soviet-built infrastructure, these electricity cuts have left many Tajik citizens without any source of central heating.
“A lot of children died in my neighborhood because of the cold,” reports Tanya Narzikulova, a retired silk factory worker who lives in the 12th micro-district in Khujand. “Many babies died in their cradles. My nephews don’t go to school because it is cold and the schools do not have electricity. We are thinking that soon, maybe we will die because of our condition.”
The irony of the situation is that Tajikistan has the largest hydropower reserves of any Central Asian state. During the summer this power flows freely and is even exported across borders. But due to a lack hydroelectric power plants, the country does not have the capacity to store the energy and must rely on its neighbors, mainly Uzbekistan, for electricity in the winter months.
The net effect of this dependence is that during the winter, most of the country gets only 4 to 6 hours of electricity per day: 2-3 in the morning and 2-3 in the evening. The exception is Dushanbe, the capital city, which usually has a steady supply of power throughout the year. But now, even Dushanbe is experiencing frequent power cuts.
Accustomed to cold winters, much of the population in Tajikistan uses coal stoves as a source of heat during these months, but many homes and apartments in urban areas rely on gas and electricity. At the same time, the price of coal in the markets has risen so that poorer families can no longer afford enough for their stoves.
These households were unprepared for the sudden drop in temperatures and the power cuts and price increases that accompanied them. As a result, the deaths of many children, elderly and sick persons were reported over the past few weeks, although official figures are unavailable.
The crisis has also sent general hygiene standards plunging. Water pressure is low or nonexistent in many homes and pipes everywhere are freezing, leaving many unable to bathe for weeks at a time.
“I have not been able to shower in more than two weeks,” says Zamira Rustamova, who lives in Gafurov, a town outside Khujand. “I am hating myself right now.”
Zamira’s home has also been without gas and electricity for days and weeks. At night, her family wraps themselves in blankets and gathers around the kitchen table drinking tea – anything to be warm.
While last week saw an increase in temperatures, they are expected to drop again this week to as low as minus 10 to 15 Celsius during the day and minus 20 Celsius or lower at night.
President Rakhmonov has responded to the crisis by ordering all power directed to households, not private enterprises, and firing over 20 government representatives. He also reached out to Tajikistan’s neighbors, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, for help, both of whom promised aid. The recent opening of a Russian-built power plant – Sangtuda-1 – offers some sign of hope, but the capacity of the plant falls far below the needs of the country.
Moreover, in a recent media statement Sharifkhon Samiyev, head of the national power company Barki Tojik, said that Tajikistan’s main hydroelectric power plant near the Nurek reservoir will only be able to power the country through February 10. After this time, it is rumored that the country will experience a black-out lasting up to 10 days.
The prevailing attitude throughout the country is a mix of outrage, anxiety and despair. Those who can have left to stay with friends and family in neighboring countries such as Uzbekistan, and at least one international non-governmental organization has evacuated its staff to Almaty, Kazakhstan, until the crisis subsides.
Those who remain are forced to play a waiting game. Many have already been living without water or electricity for days and even weeks. Tajiks who do not already have them are installing coal stoves into their homes and apartments, but not without hesitation.
“The smoke is poisonous,” says Iraj,* who lives in Khujand with his wife and two young children and is active in local governance. “There are no official numbers, but one local representative reported as many as 2 people are dying each day as a result of these stoves.”
Iraj went on to describe his frustration with the government’s failure to address Tajikistan’s energy problem. “My youngest daughter was crying the other night,” he recounted. “She was sick and crying because it was so cold, and all I could think was how this government is not worth even one of her tears.”
*Names have been changed at the request of the source.
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