President Emomali Rahmon yesterday held a phone call with chairperson of Vakhsh district (Khatlon province), Qurbonbali Yusupov.

According to the Tajik president’s official website, Vakhsh district head inform the president about measures taken by regional administrators to mitigate disaster effects.

The head of state instructed Vakhsh district chairperson to provide timely assistance to the affected population and restore the disaster damaged houses as soon as possible. 

According to data from the Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan, mudslides caused by torrential rain on May 11 caused damage to residential buildings, household plots, bridges and rural roads in Vakhsh district.  

On the instruction of the president, a working group led by Deputy Prime Minister, Davlatshoh Gulahmadzoda, has visited the area to assess the actual damage caused by recent heavy rains and mudslides to the district’s economy.    

Meanwhile, Tajik national TV channels reported yesterday that a convoy of trucks carrying building materials and food products has arrived in Abdurahmoni-Jomi district in Khatlon province, where torrential rain on May 7-9 caused damage to homes and fields.  The village of Navobod was hard hit, with dozens of houses destroyed and many other houses are still at a high risk of collapse and more than 168 households were evacuated to safe place.  Fortunately, no human casualties were reported.  

The convoy was reportedly sent to the area on behalf of President Rahmon and construction of new residential buildings for the disaster victims reportedly began in the district today.  

Recall, mudslides triggered by May 11 heavy rains have killed nine people in Tajikistan.  In Khatlon province, the mudslides killed eight residents of Kulob, as well as in the districts of Shamsiddin-Shohin, Vakhsh, and Kushoniyon.  Besides, one person was also killed by a mudslide in Hisor, about 15 kilometers west of Dushanbe.