We would like to respond to the story based on unverified facts aired by one of the TV companies and provide correct information to the public.

The construction of Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori bypass road of 16.6 km, ordered by the Road Department of Roads of Georgia, is actively underway. Construction began in 2022 and is scheduled to be completed in 2024. The project envisages the construction of a new bypass road, which will relieve 6 densely populated areas from traffic.

The route of the new road is basically parallel to the existing main reclamation channel. However, in certain places, the project intersects irrigation canals feeding agricultural land north of the Central Canal.

In the construction project of the road, both the crossings of the road and the implementation of all necessary measures for the proper functioning of the irrigation infrastructure under the influence of the project were provided. Such measures, in total, include the arrangement of 67 capital crossings and a completely new irrigation network up to 13 km long, which ensures uninterrupted supply of irrigation water to plots from the main reclamation channel. In addition, the existing irrigation system equipped with soil cuvettes will be replaced by an irrigation network built with capital - iron-concrete cuvettes.

During the winter period, there was no need to provide water to the agricultural beds, and therefore, there was no interruption of any kind. Before the arrangement of the capital irrigation network, for the spring active irrigation season, water will be supplied continuously from the existing irrigation network to the plots, parallel to the construction.

As a result of the completion of the construction of the new irrigation network, the existing irrigation network will gradually be replaced by a new irrigation system.

In order to take into account and inform the interests of the population as much as possible, the Department of Highways, contractor and supervisory companies, together with the representatives of "Georgia Melioration" LLC and the local municipality, are actively holding meetings with the population in parallel with the work process.

We ask the media to verify the information with the relevant institutions before disseminating it and not to mislead the public.