The issues of ensuring environmental stability, including waste processing, were examined in detail at the meeting, and reports were presented by responsible officials on preparations for the winter season.
A report from the Special Commission on Improving the Environmental Situation in the city of Tashkent was heard. Measures being taken to combat air pollution, identify pollution sources, and eliminate them were discussed.
It was noted that in recent days the influence of a cold anticyclone over the country has been increasing. As a result, atmospheric pressure is rising, temperatures are decreasing, and inversion phenomena are becoming stronger. Under such conditions, fine particles do not rise upward and accumulate in the lower layers of the air. It was emphasized that, due to meteorological conditions, the natural cleansing of the atmosphere is slowing.
Information was presented on ongoing efforts to identify sources of air pollution and to restrict their activities. In particular, inspections were carried out at greenhouse farms, construction sites, motor vehicles, and facilities engaged in illegal activities; stabilizing measures such as watering streets, cleaning irrigation ditches, and activating fountains were implemented. Raids and preventive measures continue in an enhanced mode.
The President instructed that these measures be continued not only in the capital but also in the regions, that identified violations be promptly eliminated, and that strict control be ensured over all factors affecting air quality.
Projects to generate electricity from household waste worth $933 million have been launched in six regions – Andijan, Namangan, Fergana, Samarkand, Kashkadarya, and Tashkent regions – yet no significant progress has been observed in this direction in other regions. In the projects already launched, work to provide investors with the necessary infrastructure – roads, electricity, and water supply – has not been organized at the proper level.
The regional hokimiyats and the National Ecology Committee were instructed to address existing shortcomings and launch similar projects in the remaining regions next year.
By 2030, it is planned to reduce the number of municipal solid-waste landfills by 50 percent. In recent years, 47 landfills have been closed and reclaimed, returning 243 hectares of land to nature.
However, most of the 132 operating landfills still lack protective fences, “green belts”, water-supply systems, and environmental-safety facilities.
“This has a negative impact on the environment and causes public dissatisfaction. Therefore, municipal solid-waste landfills must be transformed into environmentally safe zones. Above all, we must ensure public satisfaction in this area. This issue should be approached not only as waste management but also as a field closely linked with industry, energy, and environmental culture”, the President emphasized.
Responsible officials were instructed to bring the land of the 47 reclaimed landfills into economic circulation, create green zones there, and implement new investment projects. A “green belt” must be formed around all operating landfills, with tree planting to be completed at half of the sites in spring and at the other half in autumn.
Starting in 2026, at least 150 billion UZS will be allocated annually from the budget for these activities.
Over the past two years, the level of processing of previously non-recyclable industrial and hazardous waste has reached 4.5 percent. This figure was deemed insufficient. Instructions were given to carry out an inventory of sites where industrial and hazardous waste is generated and stored, and to introduce at least one project for their processing and disposal. An instruction was also given to create a unified information and monitoring platform for hazardous-waste control.
It was noted that shortcomings remain in providing liquefied gas to the population on preferential terms, and that instances of theft are being recorded. The Hududgaztaminot system was instructed to eliminate such incidents, work district by district, and resolve public issues. Instructions were given to conduct an inventory of worn-out power grids and overloaded transformers and ensure their stable operation.
It was established that repairs on 1,800 kilometers of power lines were carried out poorly. The General Prosecutor’s Office was instructed to investigate these cases and ensure the rule of law, while the Energy Inspection was directed to restructure its oversight activities based on new approaches and shift to operating in an emergency mode.
The need to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of energy resources to the population during the winter season was emphasized.
Fire-safety issues were also addressed separately.
It was noted that the fire-safety conditions of more than 44,000 multi-storey buildings across the country must be fully assessed, and that the emergency response system must be prepared to address potential risks.
Separately, the need to introduce strict legislative requirements prohibiting the use of flammable materials on the exterior walls of buildings was emphasized. In this regard, instructions were given to draft a law to align construction norms and fire-safety regulations for multi-storey residential buildings with international practice and to strengthen officials’ responsibilities.
Issues of coordinating public utilities’ work and improving the emergency response system were discussed. Based on the experience of the past season, instructions were given to form working groups by district throughout the country, to integrate all public-utility services and management service companies into the Ministry of Emergency Situations’ dispatching system, and to strengthen preventive outreach at the household level.
