Reports of sewage being discharged into the Malaya Almatinka river near Verkhny Gorelnik have not been confirmed, following an inspection by the Almaty tourism department, infohub.kz reports.
The investigation was prompted by a complaint from a Kazakh citizen posted on the social network Threads. The user sergey_eps said he had walked down from Verkhny Gorelnik to the Medeu skating rink and noticed a pipe from which, he claimed, sewage was flowing directly into the river.
"Walking down along the fence, I found a burst corrugated drainage pipe, from which sewage is flowing straight into the river. There is a smell of sewage," the post said.
The Almaty tourism department responded to the man's complaint. In comments under the post, officials said the reports of possible sewage discharge into the Malaya Almatinka near Verkhny Gorelnik had not been confirmed.
"The inspection established that the corrugated structure shown in the photo is not a sewage pipe — it is a protective corrugated cable sheath. The water seen in the photo and video is of natural origin," the department explained.
It noted that no wastewater discharge was detected at the time of the inspection and that the city's sewage networks are operating normally.