Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- As a result of the work done in the field of providing centralized drinking water supply to the population this year, the level of provision of drinking water to the population from 74.4 percent reached 77.2 percent.

In particular, within the framework of targeted state programs, 11,207 km of water supply and 593 km of sewerage networks were laid at 2,598 facilities to improve drinking water supply and sewerage services for the population, 1,740 drinking water supply and sanitation facilities were built and reconstructed.

Of these, the major projects are:

Within the framework of the project “Improving drinking water supply using the waters of the Tupalang reservoir”, 147 km of network were laid at the expense of 1.4 trillion soums, the quality and level of water supply to 1.1 million citizens (40 percent of the region’s population) living in 273 mahallas of Sariasiysky, improved. Denau, Shurchinsky, Kumkurgan districts.

As part of the project “Improving the drinking water supply of Jizzakh region through the use of the waters of the Zarafshan River”, the drinking water supply of residents of Dustlik, Pakhtakor, Mirzachul districts and the city of Jizzakh has been improved.

The work done in accordance with projects of international financial institutions also deserves attention. According to the Investment Program for 2023, 425 km of water supply and 100 km of sewerage networks were laid within the framework of 22 projects.

At the same time, at 10 water distribution facilities and 19 sewerage pumping stations, in particular in Tashkent and Kibray districts, the construction of four sewage pumping stations will be completed in each of these two regions, in Zangiata districy - two water distribution structures, in the city of Gulistan - nine, in the city of Yangier - six, in the cities of Shirin and Jizzakh - two sewage pumping stations.

It should also be noted that as a result of the implementation of all projects in 2023, 1.1 million residents of over 2 thousand mahallas in the republic for the first time gained access to centralized drinking water supply, and the drinking water supply of 2.5 million citizens was improved.

In 1,134 settlements without access to a centralized drinking water supply, water is supplied through 214 units of special equipment of water supply enterprises and 1,112 units of special equipment of other individuals and legal entities.

It is noteworthy that in the Andijan region the level of drinking water supply to citizens has reached 91 percent, in the Khorezm region this figure is 90 percent.

The number of drinking water tests during the year increased from 2.5 million to 2.9 million, or an increase of 18 percent.

About 20 laboratories for quality control of drinking water and wastewater received a certificate confirming technical qualifications in accordance with the requirements of the State Standard of Uzbekistan, O’zDst 3410: 2019, including 6 laboratories in the Bukhara region, 5 laboratories in the Tashkent region, and 5 laboratories in Syrdarya region. 2 laboratories, in the Jizzakh region - 2 laboratories, in the Republic of Karakalpakstan - 5 laboratories.

In 2023, in order to improve the quality and transparency of services provided to consumers, an automated unified billing system for accounting and control of drinking water supply and sanitation services “Uzwater” was launched.

In 2020, the share of consumers making payments online was 15 percent, which increased to 70 percent in 2023.

In order to improve the system of working with consumers and prevent corruption situations on site, a digital KPI system “without the human factor” has been introduced for inspectors.

Today, the performance of 2,300 field inspectors is measured using this KPI system. We can say that employees who fulfill all the indicators are given a salary of up to 8.5 million soums.

In addition, the “SuvniAsra” system has been introduced to quickly study incoming applications regarding the industry, and through this system a mobile application has been created for citizens to submit applications from anywhere in our country, and the opportunity has been created to leave an application through the telegram bot @suvmuammobot.

The activities of the “Unified Call Center” with short numbers 1255, operating 24/7, have been improved.
During January-December 2023, the call center received 145.2 thousand requests, of which 85 percent were resolved positively, 15 percent are under control.

In addition, in order to directly work with the population, a telegram chat “Suvta’minot Water Supply” (uzsuv_chat) and a separate telegram bot (@uzsuvanticorruptionbot) were launched to receive requests regarding corruption in the industry.

Urgent tasks and activities have been identified that need to be implemented in 2024 in order to continue this work in an accelerated manner and further improve the population’s needs for drinking water supply and sanitation.