Photos: Dried up Aral Sea springs back to life
Updated On Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
A ruined ship lays on a salinated part of the Aral Sea coastline near the village of Akespe, south-western Kazakhstan.The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth biggest lake, is most likely gone forever, its death having brought about decades of environmental disaster. However, a project to salvage its northern part appears to have succeeded as commercial fishing is once again viable in the adjacent Kazakh towns and villages. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
Akespe, home to some 250 people, and Karateren, inhabited by about 150, used to be dominated by fishermen until the water receded too far away - but it is now back in Karateren. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
Fishermen sail a boat on the Aral Sea outside the village of Karateren.
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
House are surrounded by dunes in the village of Karateren. The Aral was nearly destroyed as a result of the Soviet Union’s plan to boost cotton production by diverting Syr Darya and Amu Darya, the two rivers feeding it, to irrigate the desert. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
By the 1990s, when the Soviet Union fell apart, the Aral had split into several smaller bodies of water and Kazakhstan focused on salvaging its northern part which lies fully within its territory, others being shared with Uzbekistan. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
Pallas seagulls fly over the Aral Sea outside the village of Karateren. The idea was simple - build a dam separating the so-called North Aral Sea from the drying-up remains of the southern part and increase water flow from Syr Darya. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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A fisherman refuels his motorcycle in the village of Karateren. Some villages are once again within walking distance from the lake while the water has become much less salty, allowing a greater diversity of fish to thrive. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Camels graze next to an abandoned fuel station in the village of Zhalanash, near the Aral Sea. Zhalanash, where some 700 people live, is close to what used to be a cove (small bay) housing many fishing vessels and later became a tourist attraction known as ‘the ship graveyard’. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
A man walks with livestock at the village of Karateren. Construction of irrigation facilities on the rivers began in the 1940s and by the 1960s the coast line was receding by about three metres a year, said 84-year-old Sagnai Zhurimbetov, who had worked as a fisherman on the Aral for 56 years and now lives in the former port town. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
Food cooks at a farm in the former sea village of Bogen, south-western Kazakhstan. Bogen, populated by some 1,000 people, is a former fishermen's village that used to be on the seashore. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Boldai Zhaksylykova (2nd R) and her family members pray after dinner at home in the village of Bogen. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Students attend a lesson at a school in the village of Bogen. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Erali Serimbetov, who was born in 1961, sits in front of his house surrounded by dunes at the remote part of the village of Karateren. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Aral, which has a population of 32,000, is a former port town which is now 20-25 kilometers away from the sea. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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The coast line, which had once receded as much as 100 kilometres from the port town of Aral, is now 20-25 kilometres away as it fluctuates seasonally. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST
A local resident Galymzhan works at a fish sorting factory in the village of Bogen. The return of commercial fishing has also created jobs at processing facilities where fish is sorted and frozen. Some families earn their living by importing and selling motorboats. (Shamil Zhumatov / REUTERS)
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Updated on Jun 05, 2017 12:19 PM IST