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Peasants Troubled By Drought Beg for Help

October 1, 2006

“I have never seen the Mtkvari so dry. You can walk from one bank the other. If it keeps on too long disaster is inevitable.  The water does not flow from the Mtkvari River into the irrigation channel”, peasants from Kartli complain.

This year, the Shida Kartli population has been punished by nature several times. Early in spring, a lasting frost totally annihilated fruit, grape and nuts. The population was left without any harvest. Because budding plants were destroyed by the frost - so the price of fruit at the agricultural markets rose drastically.

The fruit harvest that managed to survive the spring frost is being now being destroyed by drought. The problems caused by the drought could have been overcome, if the irrigation system was in good condition. People, having not been paid any attention by the local government, applied to the Ministry of Agriculture in Tbilisi - but in vain.

The village plots on the right bank of the Mtkvari are being irrigated by the channels dug from the Mtkvari. Several villages within the Gori and Kaspi districts - Khidistavi, Uplistsikhe, Kvakhvreli, Doesi, Karagaji, Grakali and Metekhi are being irrigated this way. During the black communist period, the aforementioned villages used to be irrigated by water from reservoir channels in which water was concentrated by electric pumps. Tezami Gorge villages were also irrigated by those manmade channels, but the reservoir is not working because of the high price of electricity, while another Gori-Doesi channel, fed by the Mtkvari is completely dry. 
 
The population from Doesi applied to the Governor’s administration for help several times. The question was to bring the reservoir back into action. According to the official agreement, the water pipe should work if the people pay 3GEL for irrigating 0.01 acres. Regarding the fact that each family owns about 0.75acres in this territory, they would have to pay 225GEL to irrigate their plot per time. Bringing water to a house and garden of at least 0.15 acres, costs 45GEL.

This price is too high for peasants. This year the bad harvest meant most of the population has no money to pay. Regarding this problem, the population of the village of Doesi arrived at the Ministry of Agriculture to meet the minister, although they left without having met him. All in all the people are left to god’s mercy and rain. However it is too late for many crops to be watered.

As for local government Gori region councilor complains that they have not enough funds in the budget. As far as we know Gori district budget has raised neither before nor after the revolution. The governor’s budget is ‘frozen’ on one and the same level and does not overdraft 5 million GEL.

Neither Shida Kartli Agricultural Department has enough funds. Structural reorganization is being carried out within its system. Agricultural departments of all villages’ are abolished; they have been combined and named Shida Kartli Agricultural Department. The chief of the department is Samson Kebadze, former head of Gori district Agricultural Department. As they say at the Administrative Board, the department has applied to the region councilor asking to apportion the sum but in vain. The district councilor stated at one of the meetings that the Agricultural Department should receive funds from the Ministry of Agriculture.


Saba Tsitsikashvili. Gori

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