|
|
In the museum we met a very special man. Doctor Orynbay Epyrsekov was
a paediatrician. He was one the first in this area to realise the problems.
Children were born deformed, sick or they just died. The cause of this
was nearly always poisoning. When the water of the Aral Sea dropped, the
poison content of the Sea went higher and higher. The venom was originated
from agriculture. The rivers took pesticides like DDT and several others
to the Aral Sea. Epyrsekov's eyes were dull. His face was wry. He looked
tired. "The Aral Sea Museum has been founded to warn the people. The situation
about environment and health in this area is very critical. Once Muynak
was the largest producer of canned fish in the world. Four hundred million
pounds of fish was canned every year. Two thousand of people worked here
in canneries. Now the time has come that everybody leaves, only old people
are staying and those who don't have any money.
(Quotation from the manuscript The Mayor On The Roof, a diary of Uzbekistan) |