This week in Taldykorgan, at the office of the regional branch of the NPP “Atameken”, another meeting of the warring parties took place around the topic of building two small hydroelectric power stations on the Koksu River: “Rudnichnaya HPP-1” and “Rudnichnaya HPP-2”.

Currently, it should be noted that the number of people dissatisfied with the construction of hydroelectric power stations is increasing every day. The President of the Rafting Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Konstantin O., spoke about this. Also, according to him, he is ready to go on pickets and gather a whole army of supporters.

—I am ready to regularly go out on single pickets, but you cannot touch the Koksa River. It’s good that representatives of government agencies who are obliged to monitor the facility gathered today. We are not kids who have nothing to do and who love to kayak. We promote an active lifestyle and develop tourism. In Zhetysu, tourism is the most effective industry for replenishing the budget. I am ready to gather dozens of people, including farmers,” noted Konstantin O.

Civil activist Olzhas Ibraimov reminded the officials present of the principles of the “Hearing State”.

—Unfortunately, our government agencies do not hear citizens. The Koksu River is important for the development of water sports. Everyone protects entrepreneurs, but the interests of the people must be protected. There is an eco-portal, data on all public hearings is stored there, but there are no documents on these hydroelectric power stations,” Olzhas Ibraimov emphasized.

Member of the regional tourism association Saltanat Uteshbaeva also focused on procedural violations during public hearings.

— If a hydroelectric power station causes damage to a fish population, then there must be compensatory measures that are regulated by legislation on the protection of the environment and aquatic biological resources. Violators are required to stock rivers and reservoirs that will suffer from the activities of hydroelectric power stations with fish. If they ignore such obligations, then government agencies such as the Fisheries Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture may suspend the activities of the facility, — believes Saltanat Uteshbaeva.

A representative of the akimat of the city of Tekeli, unexpectedly for all those present, announced that on December 18, 2024, public hearings were allegedly held in the village of Rudnichny. They say that the event was recorded, and they submitted the documents to the relevant departments. In response to her remark, some environmental activists called these actions falsification and threatened legal proceedings.

Our author was at this event, and then he was called a presentation of the project.

In turn, a representative of the regional entrepreneurship department suggested that the head of the hydroelectric power station construction project, Ali Karabalin, hire scientific experts and conduct additional research to identify potential risks from the impact of the new facility on the environment. Some social activists are also inclined to this idea.

—Today, the main person who should respond to all the scandals around the hydroelectric power station is the regional akim Beibit Isabaev. He is a political civil servant, and the situation around this topic has already acquired a socio-political character and risks resulting in protests. Now we are preparing letters to him and the regional maslikhat with a request to allocate financial resources for a scientific examination in order to determine the potential risks of impact on the environment. It is also important to find out what the economic effect of these small hydroelectric power stations is against the backdrop of the construction of nuclear power plants in the country. For the sake of obtaining some 40 MW of energy, we cannot ruin the nature and beauty of Zhetysu, — sums up the deputy head of the NGO “Green Solidarity” Aidar Khadzhimuratov.

Aliya Akhmedieva (Ratel.kz)