Residents of Almaty are concerned about the fate of trees that have been encased in concrete on the embankment of the Bolshaya Almatinka River. A plea has appeared on social media urging the city administration to save the green spaces, but the Department of Ecology has stated that they will not free the root systems, reports infohub.kz.
On the social network Threads, a user under the handle valentina_ayar posted photos of trees growing directly out of concrete structures and appealed to the city authorities to intervene. "Please, free these trees! Right now: asphalt on top, concrete around! They will die! This is on Bolshaya Almatinka, just below Al-Farabi," she wrote.
The city's Department of Ecology and Environment commented on the situation. Officials explained that these trees are wild growth that sprouted on its own in the existing structures. "The concrete covering in this area was installed before the trees appeared and is part of a hydraulic engineering structure designed to reinforce the riverbed of the Bolshaya Almatinka River. Therefore, dismantling the concrete structures to free the root systems of the trees is not possible, as it could affect the stability and operational safety of the hydraulic structure," the official response stated.
However, the author of the post and other social media users remained dissatisfied with this explanation, believing that trees could not have grown through concrete. They continue to insist on the need to save the green spaces.