Villagers in Dagestan complained about a lack of drinking water.

Residents of the Makhachkala village of Sulak are supplied with industrial water from the Sulak River, which is undrinkable. Appeals to officials have failed to resolve the problem, the villagers complained.

An appeal from residents of the Sulak urban-type settlement (part of the Makhachkala urban district - note from "Caucasian Knot") was published today by the Telegram channel "Tut Dagestan," which has over 256,000 subscribers. By 6:45 PM Moscow time, the post had garnered over 19,000 views.

"We ask that you address the current issue with our village's water supply. Currently, we are supplied with industrial water from the Sulak River, which cannot be used immediately because no purification procedures are performed. The water has to be left to settle in pools before it can be used for drinking and household purposes," residents reported.

The villagers also report problems with the established water rates. "Initially, the fee was 60 rubles per person, but in 2025, the rate increased to 230 rubles per person, plus an additional 200 rubles as a penalty for not having a meter. Meanwhile, those who wanted meters installed were told that they were impossible because the water was too dirty and the meters would quickly fail," the appeal states.

Residents write that the village's residents have expressed strong discontent over the fact that, since January 2026, the rate has increased to 463 rubles per person, taking into account the penalty for not having a meter, yet water is often unavailable. Moreover, payment is charged as for a full month of uninterrupted water supply, and no recalculation is made for days when there was no water supply.

"We kindly request that you publicize our problem, as we are simply not being heard in any other way," the residents wrote in their appeal.

By 7:00 PM Moscow time, the "Unified Operator of the Republic of Dagestan for Water Supply and Sanitation" had not responded to the villagers' complaint.

On September 22, 2025, the agency reported on its Telegram channel that increased turbidity was observed in the Sulak River due to heavy rainfall. This could result in temporary cloudiness of the tap water. The operator recommended refraining from using this water for drinking and cooking, or boiling it before use.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that a criminal case was opened in Kaspiysk due to the prolonged water outage. For some residents, normal water supply has still not been restored.