TAPI: 40 days before the Afghan border ...
January 17, 2018 | 12:11 |490
Turkmenistan is the only country among all the participants of the TAPI project, which actually was engaged in the construction of the gas pipeline, although on its own territory. The remaining countries participating in the project paid more time to negotiations, consultations, discussions, etc. For someone long-awaited, and for someone and an unrealizable project, unexpectedly for both was given some specifics shortly before the New Year's holiday. Then President Berdimuhamedov, calling his colleagues from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, invited each of them to a whole bunch of solemn ceremonies on the occasion: the laying of the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline, the fiber-optic communication line on the same route, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power line, and also the commissioning of a railway from the Turkmen Serhetabat to the Afghan Turgundi. The information was as unexpected, as it was relevant. Having received an assignment from Orient to visit the site of future celebrations and the corresponding permits (after all, the border zone is a specially protected area in any state), I armed myself with a voice recorder and a camera, taking into account the folk wisdom, which says that it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times, got by various means of transportation to Serhetabat (former Kushka), and from there drove to my destination by car. I will not say that the road was easy, but in my professional work I was lucky to visit more difficult places.Alexander BAYRIEV
It was striking that a lot of oncoming and passing cars came across the road, in the overwhelming majority - large-capacity trucks and special vehicles: cement trucks, construction vehicles, water carriers, etc.
It took several hours. So there were plenty of opportunities to indulge in reflections and memories.
Turkmens, whose country is mostly occupied with the sands of one of the world's greatest deserts, know what it means for a traveler to lose the ability to move.
I remembered how once with a friend, crossing the boundless Karakum on the powerful off-road car , we made a small stop. One shepherd, seeing us from afar, for a long time and with difficulty moved in our direction. The shepherd was not from the young, and walking on the hot sand, adjusting the herd, is far from easy. But such is the unwritten law.
According to this Law of Conscience, which the Turkmens have followed all their lives, if the traveler has stopped, no matter if he needs help or not, you still have to offer him water first, and then - assistance.
Remembering this, I saw how drivers, driving in front of cars that stopped, offered their hand ...
The main gas pipeline includes not only a half a meter in diameter pipe (to be exact, 1420 millimeters), but also gas control points, gas cleaning installations, compressor stations, gas pressure regulators, meters, etc.
The energy route is also in construction along the pipeline, together with bridges, mudflow installations, so-called inspector roads and other various infrastructure facilities.
Currently, there is an active preparation for the ceremony of groundbreaking of a high-voltage power line with a voltage of 500 kv to Afghanistan, which was mentioned in a telephone conversation of the Turkmen leader with his colleagues from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Economists believe that the implementation of this project will provide an opportunity to create many new jobs in Afghanistan.
Moreover, from Afghanistan, the high-voltage transmission line will continue to Pakistan.
Approaching the place of the coming triumph, I was amazed by a huge amount of all kinds of machinery and equipment.
But suddenly, as luck would have it, the wind began to grow stronger, which raised clouds of sand and dust. Literally a few minutes later, a clear day became more like a foggy evening.
The only difference is that the cold air was saturated not by the accumulation of microscopic water particles, but by the sand that covered my eyes, filled all my pockets, and turned a white-washed shirt into gray one.
Through the veil of sand that was floating in the air, I could see the machines and equipment for communication and electricity that had survived through numerous field trials and some equipment, living out their last century. Because they will soon be replaced by electricity, produced by modern equipment at Mary GRES, and fiber-optic communication!
The growing needs of international information exchange necessitate the use of a fiber-optic backbone line, which will be laid along the TAPI gas pipeline. And the start of the optical fiber will be given here on the Turkmen-Afghan border, thanks to which a reliable connection will connect Turkmenistan with its southern neighbor, then - with Pakistan and India, and in the future - with other countries in the region.
The implementation of this project will contribute to the fact that Turkmenistan will act as the main information bridge between Europe and Asia, handling a significant part of the infotraffic.
... However, at the Turkmen-Afghan border, the wind gradually began to increase, so much so that the nearest earth-moving machines, powerful self-propelled cranes, construction and other equipment were more or less visible, and those that were a little further off resembled ghostly silhouettes.
It was difficult to see with the severely squinting eyes through a continuous sheet of sand and dust, but the work did not stop for a minute.
Our workers and specialists worked so stoically and courageously to deliver the most important facilities, which will bring energy, light and warmth to the fraternal peoples of neighboring countries within the planned time periods for the wealth of the Turkmen land.
Sometimes the sand rose with strong gusts of wind into the sky, and then the rays of the sun barely burst through the blanket that enveloped the cold winter sky, and if it were not for the wristwatch, one might think that night came into its own.
And most importantly - no matter the bad weather, the work here is conducted day and night - round the clock. Moreover, it is being carried out at a rather fast pace, objects are being built, including those where, as I was told, in four tens of days a solemn ceremony will take place with the participation of distinguished guests.
Indeed, the Turkmen leader, calling our builders "courageous", does not at all exaggerate the heroic nature of their work.
In the song once sang there were words "nature does not have a bad weather." The question, of course, is debatable, but bad weather has a good quality - it sooner or later becomes favorable for those who work in the field.
But now the wind is gradually subsiding, the sky opens, it becomes happier in the soul, and work under such conditions is intensifying.
"We should have seen a week ago - there was a vacant lot here!" Says Annabay Yanybaev, a 6th-class fitter from the city of Gazojak. - And now here stretches a large construction and installation site.
"And if you come in a week, you will not recognize the same place," Mammet Esenov, master of the 4th construction department of the Dashoguzneftegaz trust, convinces me, quite seriously.
The carpenter Zair Yaraysov fully agrees with him and is one of the best in his business who is proud of his involvement in the implementation of such a grandiose project.
The volume of work done in such a short period is colossal. But everyone realizes that much more needs to be done.
Builders proudly told me that the work is on schedule, and in some places even ahead of schedule. And 40 days later on the other side of the border, the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline will be laid.
I immediately drew attention to the fact that workers, when talking about upcoming events, do not make guesses and assumptions, but confidently assert "will take place!".
And this is the word of experts who are confident in their abilities and capabilities, behind whose back is all the might of our state.
As they told me that to date, the design work on the linear part has already been completed, and excavation work on the breakdown of the route and the construction of a road of the 5th category (the so-called - inspector's) will soon be completed. By the end of 2018, all types of work on TAPI will be fully completed in the territory of our country.
In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the pipeline will be built in parallel. And by the end of 2019 we will witness a historic moment - the pipeline will be brought to India and Turkmen gas will give a powerful impetus to the development of the economy of the fraternal peoples of the region.
And as a sign of the rightness of their words, the workers pointed to thick-walled pipes, through which on the coming historical day the energy of the Turkmen land would go to a remote geographically but spiritually close Hindustan.
... It was already getting dark when I left the place where, in 40 days, a grandiose ceremony will take place, judging by the scope of the construction work.
The driver had to slow down and stop when a relatively small flock of sheep and goats, chased by a funny shepherd, blocked the road.
In Turkmenistan, large farms are now spread, containing thoroughbred large and small cattle. And milk cows are played specially selected music compositions <em>.</Em> They say that their milk yields increase from this. Moreover, rock has an opposite effect on the cows than classical music. Quite Celestial cattle we have on the farms.
But the villagers prefer to grow their own cattle, feeding it in natural conditions - one can't even think to compare a healthy sheep grown on curative herbs of the desert or mountains, with an animal feeding on mixed fodders.
By the way, I remembered one more of the category of unforgettable impressions. In these parts, near Serhetabat, the Badhyz Reserve has spread its dominions. Surprisingly, this carefully protected area of the pristine nature was created in December ... 1941. When the fascist hordes, occupying half of the country, stood on the outskirts of the then capital, and Turkmenistan, as a symbol of unbending spirit, creates an environmental reserve!
Nowadays, not only red-listed animals live in the Badkhyz reserve, including arhars - very beautiful and slender mountain rams with famously twisted horns.
The arhars indeed look eternally thoughtful. In some ways, even philosophical ...
In the dramatic history of mankind, there are many examples where when implementing large-scale industrial projects people did not pay attention to the fact that they are destructive to our mother - nature. Observance of the laws of nature is the only sure way to preserve the natural habitat for a person.
In Turkmenistan, the project of any industrial complex, plant or factory is not accepted for consideration if all environmental safety requirements are not taken into account.
During the construction work on the TAPI project, the workers picked up the exhausted eagle, which was badly injured in the fight according to the brutal law of natural selection.
Without human help this bird would not have survived. But help came. The builders passed the eagle to the reserve. There it was treated and left. Of course, I could not ignore it.
When I approached the temporary shelter of the eagle, it sat, staring indifferently away.
"How are things here, buddy?" I asked it.
The eagle turned to me and I saw big eyes, in the depths of which gratitude flickered.
And I looked at its wounded chest and badly injured leg, said:
- Do not worry - you're an eagle! You will surely be allright!
And it seemed to me that after these words the eagle slightly stretched its neck, raised its head and really looked like a proud bird, whose destiny is to fly to the skies.
At least, so it seemed to me ...
And in this situation in the depths of my soul I felt a certain consonance with the realities of the current days:
Fraternal Afghanistan, wounded by excruciating wars and civil strife, is slowly but surely going along the path of improving its society. And there is no doubt that the Turkmen gas will help the Afghans in their efforts to revive their economy. After all, it is energy for industry, home heat and light in the life of the Afghan brothers.
And the laying of a section of the TAPI gas pipeline on the other side of the border will take place very soon.
It is, as you already know, one 40 days left to wait ...
Ashgabat-Mary-Serhetabat-Ashgabat
