22:00, 15 June 2011

Neighbouring villagers plan to join Gimry hunger-strikers

Residents of other dwelling settlements of the mountainous parts of Dagestan are ready to join the protest hunger strike held near the village of Gimry, Untsukul District of Dagestan, with a demand to open free passage through the Chirkata-Gimry Tunnel, which connects nine mountain regions of the republic with the lowland.

"Due to the closure of the tunnel people suffer billions-worth losses. During the last three years we are fed with promises that the tunnel is about to be opened; however, the promises remain unfulfilled. Thus, we decided to start a hunger strike today," said Sharapudin Nurmagomedov, a resident of Gimry, a hunger-striker and a father of three children.

Locals assert that the tunnel is ready for operation; however, the authorities are deliberately protracting with its opening in order to "embezzle the recently received Moscow's tranche of 2.9 billion roubles to allegedly finalize the reconstruction."

So far, the reaction of Dagestani authorities to today's developments is unknown.

Author: Akhmed Magomedov

Source: CK correspondent