22 criminal cases, 52 million rubles in fines: Ministry of Environment sums up the results of supervisory activities in 2021
Ministry of Environment of Tatarstan has summed up the results of supervisory activities in 2021
Over the past three years, the republic has implemented environmental measures in the amount of 9,6 billion rubles, of which 6,6 billion were allocated from the federal budget. The funds were allocated for land reclamation, construction of sewage treatment plants, and air quality control. However, environmental issues are not without violations, sometimes even leading to criminal cases. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
“We are moving step by step towards the main goal — to improve the environment”
In 2021, the republic took part in four federal projects of the national project “Environment” — Improvement of the Volga River, Clean Country, Conservation of Forests, Preservation of Unique Water Bodies. Starting this year, the republic participates in another project — this is the Protection from the Negative Effects of Water.
“Within the framework of the Volga Improvement project, construction and reconstruction of 13 treatment facilities were planned. Twelve of them have already been completed. The 13th, largest, facility is the biological sewage treatment plants of Kazan, it is planned to be commissioned in 2024. Also in 2021, we started work on the reclamation of silt fields ahead of schedule, the project implementation period is until 2024, and the cost of work is more than 8 billion rubles," stated Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexander Shadrikov.
In 2021, with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, the regional ministry managed to attract an additional 170 million rubles to the republic. This money was allocated for the reclamation of the Samosyrovskaya landfill in Kazan.
As Alexander Shadrikov noted, nature protection in Tatarstan is not limited only to national projects. The state programme “Reproduction and Use of Natural Resources” is also being implemented in the republic. Over the past three years, 41 events worth 1,3 billion rubles have been held under it. Fifteen more are planned until 2024, and, according to the minister, there is a reserve for the inclusion of additional facilities in this programme.
In general, in 2019-2021, the authorities allocated more than two billion rubles to co-finance environmental protection measures with the support of the federal budget.
“Our Tatarstan people are behind all these figures. By reducing the proportion of pollutants and changing the air quality, reducing polluting effluents, strengthening the banks and building hydraulic structures, we are moving step by step towards the main goal — to improve the environment, which means to improve the ecological well-being of the inhabitants of the republic," Shadrikov concluded his speech.
52 million rubles of fines
Meanwhile, according to the results of the ministry's supervisory activities for 2021, 4,465 violations were detected in the republic. The amount of fines exceeds 52 million rubles. The department noted that an important role in this matter is played by residents who apply to the republican public environmental reception. Most of all, citizens are concerned about the issue of illegal waste disposal. As an example, the First Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan, Chief State Inspector of the Republic of Tatarstan in the field of environmental protection, Ayrat Shigapov, cited one of the landfills in Kazan — along Gorkovkoye Shosse Street.
“A storage of production and consumption waste on the soil, namely scrap and waste of polyethylene products, has been revealed. For this violation, administrative material has been compiled against the administration of the Kirovsky and Moskovsky districts of the city of Kazan," said Ayrat Shigapov.
However, according to Shigapov, since 2017, the number of citizens' complaints about illegal landfills has been decreasing.
In 2021, the ministry identified 464 violations of water protection legislation. One of the striking examples was the pollution of the Shoshma River in the Baltasinsky district.
Ayrat Shigapov said that the ministry regularly monitors surface water bodies, for this purpose there are eight specialised laboratories in the republic. In 2021, 36,000 samples were taken and analysed from the surfaces of water bodies.
It used to bring harm, now it benefits
Four hundred and fifty-three violations over the past year were revealed by the ministry in the field of atmospheric air protection. For example, more than 20 complaints were received by the department about the air quality in the Nizhnekamsk district. Experts have identified the source of emissions, it turned out to be the company Kamastal PLC. Now the company has ordered and installed new cleaning equipment worth more than 20 million rubles. Also, one of the striking examples of violations is the air quality in the area of the Mamadyshsky Trakt of Kazan and the Samosyrovsky landfill. Over three years, more than 300 complaints have been received from residents of the city on this issue.
“To solve this issue, work has begun on the reclamation of the Samosyrovsky landfill. An important stage of reclamation will be the introduction of an active degassing system. It will allow to process all biogas into electricity. If earlier it was liberated around the area and brought harm, now it will bring benefit," said Ayrat Shigapov.
In the past year, 37 violations in the field of mining were also identified. If in the previous examples only administrative materials were compiled for violators, then there have been even criminal cases. A striking example is the illegal extraction of clay in the Mamadyshsky district.
In total, 22 criminal cases have been initiated against violators of environmental standards with the assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee.
“In general, thanks to preventive measures, including explanatory work, we note an annual decrease in the number of violations," Ayrat Shigapov concluded.