Authorities have begun restoring a lake in central Tashkent beside the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, with earthworks now under way at the site.
The National Committee for Ecology and Climate Change published a rendering of the project a day earlier. The committee confirmed to Gazeta that the lake will be rebuilt under the nationwide Clean Air project, approved by presidential decree in March, to reduce dust and improve air quality and the local microclimate.
The rendering shows two large fountains in diagonally opposite corners, linked by walkways, and a mirror-clad arch in another corner. It is not known how closely the final project will follow the sketch.
The 3-hectare pond, which has an island and a fountain, was once part of the National Park of Uzbekistan and was drained in spring 2020.
The capital plans to build 12 artificial bodies of water in total. Gazeta has reported on projects near the airport (Kumaryk mahalla), near Victory Park, in Uchtepa district, in the Botanical Garden and in a new park on the site of the former Research Institute of Sericulture.
