Thirst is stronger than fear

In the Almaty region, a settlement with a population of 20,000 has not been provided with clean water for many years. The life of the villagers has turned into hell: at night, adults and children collect life-giving moisture in containers. Due to the poor quality of water, equipment breaks down, pipes and radiators become clogged.

Kemertogan is located five minutes' drive from the border with Almaty, in the Karasai district. For several years now, its residents have been ringing all the alarm bells, activists have reached the office of the president and prime minister, because the situation is catastrophic. Due to the shortage of life-giving moisture, people save on basic household needs - they do not wash themselves more than necessary, they wipe their children with napkins. Those who have the opportunity, go to their relatives in the city to wash their clothes.

There is no irrigation water either: vegetable gardens and fruit trees are drying up... And this is a blow to those who feed their families with the fruits of their labor. People do not have the opportunity to buy water in the required quantities.

The other day, Majilis members Maksim ROZHIN and Daniyar KASKARAUOV arrived in Kemertogan to meet with the population. The villagers said that the settlement has a centralized water supply system, but its technical condition is as bad as it can be. The pressure in the pipes is too weak, and some streets do not get water at all.

- We carry water in buckets. Many drink from wells. But the water, lifted from a depth of 13-14 meters, is dirty, with sediment and odor. It is impossible to wash with such water, let alone drink it, - complains village resident Eginbek EGEUBEKOV. - The water flows only at night and in a thin stream. Now only 20 percent of the village is connected to the central system. We are not even included in the Kaskelen group water supply project. We specially invited the Majilis deputies so that they could see for themselves the conditions in which people live.

Public figure Raushan ZHUMATAEVA said that she moved to Kemertogan two years ago and was horrified: in the village, water is in the hands of private owners, tariffs are inflated, and there are also problems with electricity. The lights go out and the water supply is automatically turned off, and this happens regularly:

- How many times have we had social tensions, residents were outraged, ready to take extreme measures! Private wells were drilled without permits. We sent the water for examination. It turned out: it was technical, with impurities. And this is a threat to public health.

The villagers recalled that the surface waters in the rural district are polluted by all sorts of drains and septic tanks. Our newspaper previously reported on the problems of this rural district (see "Neither breathe nor peep" , "A fine is no obstacle to a sewer" , "Tired of kneading the dirt!" on the website time.kz).

The residents have achieved that a water pipeline project be made. They proudly showed the long-awaited document, it has already passed the state examination. In total, 4.8 billion tenge are required to modernize the infrastructure of the village of Kemertogan. If the republican budget does not support it, the implementation may be delayed again, the villagers fear.

As reported by the Akim of the Irgelinsky rural district Arman KAMALBEK, according to the design and estimate documentation, it is planned to build a water pipeline with a total length of 184.8 kilometers, two reservoirs, three pumping stations. After the completion of construction, villagers will have access to clean drinking water.

But why didn't officials take care of the population earlier and wait until the discontent reached its peak? The Akim, who has been in his post for only a year and a half, argues: supposedly, in a few years the population of the village and the entire rural district has grown 4-5 times, people are moving closer to the metropolis from all over Kazakhstan. Almaty residents are also moving to land closer to the city. In total, more than 80 thousand people live in the rural district. The infrastructure is simply not designed for such a number of consumers.

Majilisman Maxim Rozhin promised residents to control the issue of allocating funds from the republican budget:

- In the region, there is no clean water not only in Kemertogan, there are problems, especially in the dacha communities in three districts of the Almaty region - Ili, Karasai, Talgar. Our task as deputies is to fight for the allocation of money and provision of clean water when approving the budget.

- This is not the first time you have met with the villagers. What complaints have you already dealt with? - I asked.

- The school we are standing near worked in three shifts, 6.5 thousand students attended it. Now there are already four schools in Kemertogan, the fifth is under construction. The problem is more or less solved. Roads have been built, more than 4.5 kilometers. Residents asked to launch a bus route, it is there. But problems remain. Residents said that many do not have addresses, they cannot even call an ambulance. I looked at the general plan for the development of the village, it has been submitted for approval. If it is approved, residents will have an address to which any services can come.

The deputy also promised to study in detail the state expertise of the billion-dollar water project: how objectively the costs were calculated.

But it is still unknown how long the Kemertogans will have to wait for the promised benefits. Judging by their stormy protests, people are already on the edge...

Elena KOEMETS, photo by Vera OSTANKOVA, Almaty region