Residents of the Almaty foothills are expressing serious concerns about a possible landslide after work was carried out on a mountain slope. According to them, workers cut down about 80 trees and trimmed part of the mountain, presumably for road construction, reports infohub.kz.

Local residents say that several months ago, heavy machinery appeared near their homes. Workers cut down about 80 trees and trimmed part of the mountain slope. According to residents, the work was carried out to build a road. Now people fear that due to the damaged slope, a landslide could occur during heavy rains.

"On the 25th, we called the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Kazselezashchita, and they issued a conclusion directly for my house stating that work is being carried out here without engineering and hydrological surveys. How are we to understand this? It turns out they didn't study the soil and started work. That's what worries us," said Raushan Akhanova.

According to residents, the work began about three months ago. They claim that after cutting down trees and trimming the slope, the mountain was left without reinforcement.

"It's scary that they cut the mountain, removed the soil, and started building. And there's no support here. This is clay mass. You know what kind of slurry it is: water, clay - it's an aggressive environment. It can flow and so on. That's why we are afraid," complained Galymurat Zhukel.

Local residents also say that fruit, coniferous, and deciduous trees used to grow on this site.

"Everything here was planted. In an instant, it was leveled, cut down, and taken away by someone. They threw all the branches near our fence," said Asan Badenov.

According to another resident, Kazbek Batyrbek, water recently began to flow onto his property for the first time due to waterlogged soil.

"A small rain. Look, it's already breaking through like a small mudflow. You see, mud is going down. To restore it, we need some kind of retaining wall. We are already afraid that if there is a big rain, this wall, everything will go onto this house," he complained.

Meanwhile, the Almaty city administration stated that the work was carried out at the request of the owner of one of the plots. According to officials, she had asked the city leadership to build a road to her house, which has not yet been constructed.

After complaints from local residents, the work was decided to be stopped.

"A resident appealed. She made an appointment with the city leadership. Based on the resident's appeal," said Olzhas Akhmetov, chief specialist of the Almaty Road Infrastructure Development Department.

When asked about the safety of residents and the possible landslide, the official replied that the work has been stopped.

"At present, the work has been stopped. In the future, I think, all this activity that was carried out due to residents' complaints will be restored. We will carry out backfilling and restoration work," he said.

Residents have already filed complaints with the police and the prosecutor's office. Owners of private houses also do not rule out going to court.