Since regaining its territorial integrity two and a half years ago, Azerbaijan has been working extensively to rebuild the economic districts of East Zangazur and Karabakh. Houses are being built in large quantities, and social and industrial facilities are being restored in the cities and villages in the freed regions as part of the Great Return initiative.

Lachin is one of the districts that was liberated from occupation. A number of projects have been put in place to build a primary road, energy infrastructure, and communal infrastructure here since the initial days of liberation.

Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, visited the Lachin district recently and got acquainted with the progress made in restoring and building infrastructure projects in the area, including the 82-kilometer Toganaly-Kalbajar-Istisu highway and the 76-kilometer Kalbajar-Lachin road, which are crucial for connecting the Lachin and Kalbajar regions with the republic's northwestern regions.

Approximately half of the digging through the rocks work has been finished at the Toganaly-Kalbajar stretch, where the route travels through five tunnels totaling 25.9 km in length. On the Kalbajar-Lachin highway, where construction of three complicated engineering-based traffic interchanges as well as 17 tunnels with a combined length of 13.3 kilometers and 23 bridges with a combined length of 4.1 kilometers is planned, preparatory work is also being done. The building of the 56.4-km, four-lane Khudaferin-Gubadli-Lachin highway is also progressing quickly; the foundation for the road has already been built, and a 20.4-kilometer part has been covered in asphalt concrete pavement.

Lachin district's development strategy calls for the construction of an airport, whose operation will guarantee the region's accessibility to transportation year-round and support the growth of international tourism. The runway and terminal are now being prepared for construction; more than 37% of the drilling and earthwork needed to lay the runway and taxiways and to erect the apron, terminal, and auxiliary buildings has already been finished. The Lachin International Airport will become Azerbaijan's tenth facility of this caliber when it opens in about 2025, according to the plan.

Creation of energy infrastructure will play an equally important role in the future growth of the Lachin region and the relocation of residents there. The 42-kilometer double-circuit 110-kV power transmission line that was installed here two years ago is connected via the 110/35/10-kV Gorchu substation. The high-voltage transmission line is laid at an altitude of 2200 meters - in the mountains, dense forests, and with complete impassability - and includes an optical cable for transmitting high-speed broadband Internet as an additional option. The substation is fully automated and outfitted with a SCADA dispatcher control system. The last connection in the ring power supply of the Gorchu substation to the Lachin city substation will be a 110 kilovolt double-circuit power transmission line that will be constructed in the near future.

Thus, the solution to key issues in the Lachin region - the availability of sustainable electricity supply, capacious water resources, and high-quality roads creates prerequisites for the implementation of the main tasks of the State Program "Great Return to the Liberated Territories of Azerbaijan". According to the master plan, 700 buildings are being restored in the district center, including 620 private houses and 9 apartment buildings.

 Analytic group of News.Az

The article focuses on the theme of the Great Return to the liberated territories

The article was published with the support of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (MEDIA)