Sochi residents report mass destruction of greenery during holidays

At night on January 8, at the intersection of Gagarin and Krasnoarmeiskaya Streets, in the territory of the children's educational centre, several dozens of green plants were cut down, Sochi residents report. The administration officials say that the cuttings were legal and refer to the decision of the court. Sochi residents also report about other mass felling of trees - in Kurortny Avenue and in Ordzhonikidze and Sokolov Streets.

"The Christmas holiday was spoiled; wherever we called: to the police, the head of the city, the deputies, the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE), asking to save the grow-up magnolias, cypresses, plane trees and other greenery that grew in the children's centre. But, you know, none of them was available, and none of them came," Lyudmila Alyoshina, a resident in Gagarin Street of Sochi, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

It became clear at the site that the permit No. 009984 to cut trees in the children's care institution at No. 30 Krasnoarmeiskaya Street was issued on December 22, 2011, by Alexei Zhmailo, a forest-park specialist of the city. The permit was issued to Yu. Ragonyan, Director General of the Limited Liability Company (LLC) "City Park" "for future construction".

Alexei Zhmailo explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that on November 24, 2011, Judge Taigibov ordered the city administration to issue the permit; however, he did not comment on the grounds of the judge's decision.

According to Alexei Zhmailo, a multi-storey car park will be built in the place of the cut-off trees in the playground of the children's centre.

The residents of Krasnoarmeiskaya and Gagarin Streets, teachers of the children's centre and the parents who bring their children here, assert that nobody had ever asked their opinions on the matter; and they are categorically against felling the resort greenery and building concrete structures in general-use city areas.

According to Oleg Ryabtsev, a resident of the city, they were to cut down no more than 30 trees in Krasnoarmeiskaya Street, but in fact they felled more than fifty.

According to Sochi residents, mass cuttings of trees during the holidays were made in other parts of the city - in Kurortny Avenue, in the place of the cafe "Teatralnoe", in Ordzhonikidze and Sokolov Streets. Earlier, one-story houses had been demolished here in view of erecting high-rise buildings. According to locals, about 500 rare resort plants were cut down here.

Also, residents report about a landslide in the garden partnership "Russian Mamaika", which began, according to their version, because of illegal dumping of soil from Olympic objects, as well as about a loss of greenery due to a landslide on the Primorskaya Embankment.

"The massive construction in Sochi requires free areas, which no longer exist. Thus, they cut down trees to build Olympic objects. For example, it was done in Tchaikovsky, Donskaya and Gagarin Streets, in Krasnodar Ring in the Zavokzalny micro-district, and in Adler," said Olga Noskovets, a member of the Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus.

According to her stories, the warnings of ecologists that greenery cuttings pose threats of landslides and avalanches have no effect on bureaucrats.

The ecologists are supported by Olga Kozinskaya, Chair of the Public City-Planning Board, who believes that "the pointed build-up, without a general plan ruins the resort."