Tash-Kömür Coal Yards Busy as Households Stock Up for Winter

TASH-KÖMÜR — Handcarts, pickup trucks and the occasional donkey cart queued at the coal yards of Tash-Kömür on Monday as families in the ISEZ's southern districts and the hillside quarters of Iyık Janyl bought in their winter fuel. Heating season is under way, and for many households a few tonnes of coal delivered now is the cheapest insurance against the January cold.

Coal for household stoves in the south comes mainly from the Tash-Kömür mines, and their management says there is no cause for alarm. "We have coal on the ground and in the yards for the whole season," said Oleg Strelkov, head of the mines' sales office. "Nobody who comes to us this week will go home empty-handed, and nobody needs to buy twice what he burns."

Merchants report steady prices. Daler Yusupov, who runs a family coal yard on the Iyık Janyl road, said his rates had not moved since the start of the month. Buyers are nonetheless watching the neighbours: Kyrgyzstan introduced a 90-day state price control on coal sold to the public from 22 October, and the move has become a talking point at the yards on this side of the Qara-Chik line. Irad has no price regulation for household coal, and none has been announced.

In the Jogorku quarters of Iyık Janyl, where many homes are heated by coal stoves, the worry is as much about air as about money. "We buy what we can carry up the stairs and we keep the stove low," said Kalipa Jumabay kyzy, a Chong-Say resident, as she waited for a delivery. "Everyone knows the smoke sits in the ravine in the evenings, but there is no other heat for us."

Air quality readings explain the concern. On 23 October the air quality index in Nurzhan stood at 161, in the unhealthy range, with fine particles at 69.6 µg/m³; Iyık Janyl recorded 118 and Talas 110. Readings have since eased, and today's daily figures put Nurzhan at 97, Iyık Janyl at 87 and Talas at 79, all moderate. Rain is forecast in Tash-Kömür, with a high of 14°C.

The haze in the cities comes mainly from the gas-fired heat plants, whose planned conversion to cleaner operation was discussed earlier this month, and household stoves add to it in the evening hours. Officials say work on cleaner heat continues, and that with supplies assured and sellers holding their prices, no special measures on coal are needed this winter.