Sochi residents complain that beaches next to the trail of health are closed

The area of the pedestrian trail of health in Sochi has been built up with commercial structures; and all access to the beaches from the trail are blocked and strictly guarded, local residents report.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that back in 2009 Sochi opened a terrainkur – a trail for treatment walks. Before that, for 20 years the trail was in desolation, but in the past, since 1930s, it was the main hiking trail in Sochi. The trail passes through almost the entire city from the Matsesta Micro-District to the stadium and is five kilometres long.

Now, when walking from Matsesta, residents cannot get to beaches, said Ekaterina Bytkha, a pensioner from the above micro-district. According to her story, all the passes to beaches are fenced off; and the entrances are guarded.

The Sochi residents Ilya Blokhin, Margarita Sapina, Elvira Batrakova and Ivan Sidorov have also reported that because the trail was built-up with houses and hotels, untreated sewages are drained onto the beaches. The earlier entrances to the beaches are blocked with concrete walls; and the terrain in the area is swamped.

Blocking access to the sea is illegal, said Alexander Boichenko, the head of the Sochi branch of the Moscow Bar Association. He recommended that residents appeal to the prosecutor's office or the court, providing evidence of the blocked passes to the sea. According to his version, such actions may be treated as arbitrariness.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.