Uzbekistan reiterated yesterday its commitment to taking all necessary steps to lessen the negative consequences of the ecological crisis around the Aral Sea.

Speaking at a UN high-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the UN Headquarters in New York, Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov said that one of the government's priorities is to ensure "an ecologic recovery and providing for social and economic development of the area adjacent to Aral."

"The irrational use of water resources for over the past 50 years that brought about the change in regime of flow of Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers became a reason for one of the largest anthropogenic catastrophes in modern history -- drying up of the Aral Sea," he said.

The Aral Sea used to be the world's fourth largest lake but has already shrunk to one-tenth of its original size.

The UN Report for 2005 on human development in Central Asia notes that the drying up of Aral Sea is not only of regional but also a global significance, according to Norov.

The government "undertakes all necessary measures to mitigate consequences of the Aral crisis," he said.

He noted that the country allocates nearly 10-15 million US dollars every year from the state budget to the ecologic disaster zone, in particular to the fields of healthcare, education and social support of the population living in the area.

"The efforts of the government of Central Asian states and international community for over the past 15 years bore definite positive results that allowed in a way to alleviate consequences of the Aral crisis for population, flora and fauna of the disaster zone," he added.