Special project is developed under the project «Media for Improved Reporting on the Environment and Natural Resources in Central Asia» project funded by the European Union and implemented by Internews
IN THE BEGINNING ON THE SEA
When it was gone, the desert replaced it and brought a lot of salt.
The story of the Aral sea is a story of one of the most disastrous environmental catastrophes
of the 20th century.
of the 20th century.
It is a human-caused disaster, created by people, who at first did not want to notice it, and later they were not able to stop it.
Never ever, the sea was as dull as Boris Lavrenev describes it in his novel "Sorok Pervy" (The Forty First). Never ever, the sea was as arid as the Aral sea of today.
Never again, the people are able to tell what a unique colour it was – the Aral sea. Never again, the local people would like this catastrophe to happen again.
Never again, the people are able to tell what a unique colour it was – the Aral sea. Never again, the local people would like this catastrophe to happen again.
There was a tradition in the port city of Aralsk: in the cemetery where sailors are buried, they used to put unusual gravestones resembling real sculptures of lighthouses and anchors. An anchor symbolized memory, and a lighthouse symbolized hope. Our story is about hopes.
