Residents of Dagestan complain about restricted access to Caspian Sea beaches

On the eve of the opened beach season, the Prosecutor's Office of Makhachkala conducted a check of the accessibility of the Caspian Sea coast for holidaymakers, and revealed numerous violations, a source from the Prosecutor's Office told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"We ask residents and guests of the capital of Dagestan to report about all illegally installed gates, fences and taking money for drive and passage to the seashore," said the source.

The problem of development of the Caspian Sea shore has been topical for more than 30 years, said Albert Esedov, the leader of the regional branch of the "Yabloko" Party.

"Every year, there is less room for citizens to take advantage of the wealth of the whole republic – the Caspian Sea and its sandy shore. Apart from frequent cases of illegal sand excavation, practically entire seashore is illegally built up. Surprisingly, we see here the houses even of those state servants, who are called upon to observe the order in the environmental and ecological sphere," the ecologist told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The topic is discussed from time to time by local journalists; it was raised also by the federal television; however, so far, we see no efficient measures taken, said Esedov.

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