By mid-May 2010, the Tashkent City Committee For Nature Protection made a
statement about the reasons for cutting down the public square garden. Below,
we provide its full quotation: "We all remember well last fall, when the city was subjected to locust invasion. Employees of the Tashkent City Committee For Nature Protection together with representatives of the Ministry of Health explained to the residents of the capital that locusts do not harm people's health and are not a source of various kinds of diseases.
Tashkent City Committee For Nature Protection also cooperates with the khokimiyat of the capital. With its active participation, the Master Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of Tashkent had been developed and adopted, which is now being actively implemented.
'At present,
on the basis of the special "Green Program" developed, the main emphasis is placed on the originality of the architecture of the city as a whole, as well as each of its streets and squares, and the traditions of the districts and their location are taken into account,' says the deputy chairman of the Tashkent City Committee For Nature Protection. 'A separate program has been developed to turn the capital into a blooming city. New methods and technologies for growing and planting greenery have been used in this direction.'
It was developed taking into account the specialty of green areas, namely that they are more than 50 years old and pose a certain threat to the population and various buildings. The reason for predicting such a threat was the mutation of bark beetles, which were pests of soft tree species, but are now becoming pests of hard tree species such as chinaras.
This process was not spontaneous, but has been observed for many years. This spring confirmed the validity of this concern. Heavy rains accompanied by hurricane-force winds felled many trees near residences and only by luck were residents not injured.
'The rainy spring of 2009 and 2010 contributed to an intensive multiplication of insect pests that caused significant damage to Tashkent's greenery,' said the head of the Fauna and Flora Protection Department of the Tashkent City Committee For Nature Protection. 'According to our recommendations, the relevant decisions on the reconstruction and improvement of Tashkent city emphasize the need to plant such tree species as oaks, maples and chestnuts.'
That is why the Master Plan of Reconstruction and Development of Tashkent City included a clause "on the creation of new climatic green zones." This means cutting down old and diseased trees at the place where they are found, and instead laying out park green zones where citizens could relax under the shade of trees and fountains. In the current year, the
Department of Improvement of Tashkent City khokimiyat is carrying out systematic, according to the plan of reconstruction and development of Tashkent city,
cut down of old trees and lay out of new park climatic zones. At the same time, such hardwood trees and greenery are planted, which pests, in particular bark beetles, are unable to reach."