Sevastopol may lose its “green lungs”
An entire network of industrial enterprises could be built along the Sevastopol section of the Tavrida federal highway, passing through the Mekenzi plateau, an area of the densest forests.
The head of the Sevastopol Legislative Assembly committee on urban planning and land relations, Vyacheslav Gorelov, stated this in an interview with Forpost.
“I will assume (and with good reason) that it is planned to string future industrial sites onto the federal highway. And this is in a city where, within the urbanized part, there are absolutely depressive, empty territories that require development!” Gorelov said.
He believes that secret plans for forest development became one of the reasons for the vetoing by the Governor of Sevastopol Dmitry Ovsyannikov of the regional law “On approval of the list of promising specially protected natural areas (SPNA)” adopted by the Legislative Assembly. Deputies outlined the prospect of creating 14 new protected areas in the city, including on the Mekenzi plateau.
“Thousands of trees have already been cut down. Large-scale excavation work is underway. What would a prudent and caring governor do? He would say: yes, the city needs a road. But construction equipment cannot take a step beyond the red lines. Because everything that is beyond these borders is the highest and most dense forest of Sevastopol, these are its “green lungs”. This territory needs environmental protection status, which, by the way, is indicated in the city development strategy. But no, Ovsyannikov doesn’t want this,” Gorelov said.
The deputy suggests that someone’s economic interest is behind the authorities’ refusal to protect the forests, since back in the spring the government planned to create the Mekenzi Plateau protected area. This was stated in responses to official inquiries from deputies.
“It turns out that in March of this year the governor deceived the deputies. Or misled. Or showed unprofessionalism and incompetence. It’s whatever you like,” Gorelov said.
He notes that the governor provides no justification for his veto of the specially protected natural area bill. This concerns another area, the Sapun Mountain area. The governor claims that granting it special status would negatively impact agricultural development due to the nearby vineyards, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“I have a question: who prepared such nonsense for the governor to sign? How and in what ways can protected areas harm “nearby vineyards”? By the way, it is there, in the sparse vineyards, that work is already underway on the vertical planning of land plots, construction equipment is working, and fertile soil is being transported by KAMAZ trucks in an unknown direction,” Gorelov said.
It is noteworthy that not so long ago, the director of the capital construction department of the Sevastopol government, Mikhail Demidenko, announced his intention to build an ice palace with 500 seats on Sapun Mountain.
English version :: Read in English: Sevastopol may lose its "green lungs"