Andijan Dam

The Andijan Dam is a buttress dam on the Kara Darya River near Andijan in Andijan Region, Uzbekistan. Its reservoir covers 57.28 m (187.9 ft) and stretches into neighboring Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan. The dam serves several purposes to include irrigation in the Fergana Valley and hydroelectric power production. Water released from the dam can enter a canal on either side of the river downstream. The dam has two power stations located at its base, Andijan 1 and Andijan 2. The former contains four 35 MW turbine-generators and the latter contains two 25 MW Francis turbine-generators for a total installed capacity of 190 MW. Construction on the dam began in 1969 and the generators in Andijan 1 were commissioned between 1974 and 1984. Construction on Andijan 2 began in 2007 and it was commissioned on 2 September 2010. It cost US$28.5 million of which US$15.93 million was supplied by the Exim Bank of China.

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Andijan

Andijan (sometimes spelled Andizhan in English) (Uzbek: Andijon/Андижон; Persian: اندیجان‎‎; Russian: Андижан) is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, economic, and cultural center of Andijan Region. Andijan is located in the south-eastern edge of the Fergana Valley near Uzbekistan's border with Kyrgyzstan.

Andijan is one of the oldest cities in the Fergana Valley. In some parts of the city, archeologists have found items dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries. Historically, Andijan was an important city on the Silk Road. The city is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Babur who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian Subcontinent and became the first Mughal emperor.

Andijan is an important industrial city in the country. Manufactured goods produced in the city include chemicals, domestic appliances, electronics, foodstuffs, furniture, plows, pumps, shoes, spare parts for farming machines, various engineering tools, and wheelchairs.

Andijan massacre

The Andijan massacre occurred when Uzbek Interior Ministry (MVD) and National Security Service (SNB) troops fired into a crowd of protesters in Andijan in Uzbekistan on 13 May 2005. Estimates of those killed on 13 May range from 187, the official count of the government, to several hundred. A defector from the SNB alleged that 1,500 were killed. The bodies of many of those who died were allegedly hidden in mass graves following the massacre.

The Uzbek government at first said the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan organized the unrest and the protesters were members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Critics argue that the Islamist radical label is just a pretext for maintaining a repressive regime in the country. Whether troops fired indiscriminately to prevent a color revolution or acted legitimately to quell a prison break is also disputed. A third theory is that the dispute was really an inter-clan struggle for state power. The Uzbek government eventually acknowledged that poor economic conditions in the region and popular resentment played a role in the uprising.