This figure is 8% in Uzbekistan, says Aziz Kalimbetov, department head at the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection of Uzbekistan.

“Over the past 150 years, such strong dust storms have not been observed in the republic. Everyone thought it was due to construction work. But in fact, the dust rises with the wind in the steppe,” he said.

Kalimbetov made the above statement after successive dust storms hit Uzbekistan. 

According to the air quality monitoring station at the US Embassy, the index of air pollution in Tashkent as of December 3 at 18:00 reached 190 degrees, which is “very unhealthy.”