Ecology Minister Alexander Shadrikov reported on the situation on the Volga river level and on the work on improving the rivers of Tatarstan at a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan today
Today, the State Council held a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of Tatarstan. The Minister of Environmental Protection made a report on the implementation of the federal project "Improvement of the Volga River" of the national project "Ecology" to the deputies.
Thanks to federal and regional programs, Tatarstan is undergoing reconstruction and construction of treatment facilities, and objects of negative impact on the Volga are being eliminated – these are silt fields and flooded pipelines of the Lake Oil field. The total amount of funding for the federal project "Improvement of the Volga River" until 2024 is about 10.2 billion rubles, including 8.3 billion from the federal budget.
As the speaker noted, it is important that residents feel the result of this time-consuming and complex eco-restoration work. Alexander Shadrikov focused on problematic issues. Diffuse runoff, unsatisfactory operation of sewage treatment plants, illegal coastal development – these and other reasons lead to degradation of water bodies.
"There are 183 wastewater treatment plants of various forms of ownership in the Republic of Tatarstan. Ten of them account for 87% of the total wastewater discharge. 42% of the volume goes to Kazan Municipal Unitary Enterprise Vodokanal. Since 2014 alone, within the framework of the republican program, about 100 measures have been carried out for the construction or modernization of municipal structures with a total cost of 2 billion rubles. Since 2021, thanks to the federal project "Improving the Volga" of the national project "Ecology", we have started the reconstruction of biological treatment facilities in Kazan, which are among the top 200 main pollutants of the Volga. The total cost of the work is 7.6 billion rubles," the speaker noted.
In the process of designing new treatment plants, it was decided to eliminate another problem – the silt fields of Kazan. Over 50 years of their operation, 4 million cubic meters of precipitation have accumulated. The facility has long since exhausted its design capacity, some sections reached 8.5 meters in depth, and given the proximity of the reservoir, this was a real threat to the Volga River. Now this object of negative impact is being reclaimed.
This comprehensive approach of the Republic of Tatarstan to environmental problems was highly appreciated by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Victoria Valerievna Abramchenko and Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Alexander Kozlov. On behalf of Abramchenko, a seminar-meeting was held in Kazan, where representatives of 16 regions participating in the federal project "Improving the Volga River" discussed their work experience.
In addition to projects to reduce the volume of contaminated wastewater and eliminate accumulated damage, measures are being taken in Tatarstan to restore and preserve rivers and lakes. Thus, in order to preserve unique water bodies, 3 objects have been cleared in the republic over the four years of participation in the federal project "Conservation of unique water bodies". The total amount of funding provided from the federal budget since the beginning of the project is more than 600 million rubles.
Next year, work will continue in Naberezhnye Chelny to clear 4.6 km of the Melekeski River.
The first section of the Sredvolgavodkhoz branch of the Centerregionvodkhoz Federal State Budgetary Institution was completed in 2023 at the expense of the federal budget. Financing for the clearing of the second section with a length of 3.1 km and a cost of 320 million rubles is provided from the federal budget for 2025-2026.
"I would like to remind you that the projects "Improving the Volga River" and "Preserving unique water bodies" are coming to an end this year. On behalf of Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, a new unified federal project for the ecological improvement of the country's water bodies is being formed. The Government is currently forming a project passport. Our proposals for the improvement of 29 reservoirs and the reconstruction of 17 wastewater treatment plants have already been sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia," said Alexander Shadrikov.