More than a hundred dacha owners in Petropavl risk losing the access road to their community, as sports facilities are planned to be built in its place. Appeals have already been sent to local authorities, reports infohub.kz.
According to the Astana TV channel, several days ago a contractor installed concrete pillars at the entrance, angering the dacha owners. They collected signatures and sent a request to the city akim, the housing and communal services department, and the local state architectural and construction control (GASK) asking for clarification. The housing and communal services department responded that two sports facilities will be built here and the road will be closed. Residents asked local authorities to look into the matter, but officials propose using another road as an alternative.
"For almost forty years, people have been used to driving on this road. The descent here takes literally two or three minutes, and it's about 400 meters long. We are offered alternative roads that add almost 4-5 kilometers. Our community has many elderly people who during the dacha season carry their harvest and everything they grow, and they will have to make such a long detour. It's physically hard," said local resident Gulam Sarvar.
Some dacha owners live here year-round. "This dam cannot be imagined as a road because it's very dangerous to drive. Right now it's more or less dry, but in spring and late autumn, when it's slippery, a lot of clay has been dumped here to strengthen the dam. People could easily slide into the Ishim, there's zero safety here. Absolutely zero," said Aleksandr Lanshchikov.
Residents do not agree to use the alternative road, saying the section is truly dangerous. "Our biggest problem here is this section, because the dam collapses every year, soil erosion occurs every year, the road floods every year and the ground caves in. And now the housing and communal services department proposes that we permanently, year-round, drive on this road and use it," said local resident Yevgeny Kiriyenko.
The dacha owners decided to appeal directly to city akim Serik Mukhamediyev. The city head promised to visit the site in the coming days and personally familiarize himself with the situation.
"Currently, they have a roadway there. We plan to close it in the future, close it during construction. For this, an alternative road is being built. In this case, people would like us to build a fire access road near the facility to ensure passage, but this is impossible to do because there is a lot of filling going on. We will consider options. If it is necessary to seize some plots for state needs, we will seize them. But nevertheless, the facility will be built, and the passage will be safe," said the akim.
City residents hope for a quick meeting with city authorities right in the community. They believe that officials will hear their request and build an alternative access road that would be the most suitable and, most importantly, safe.