“Black diggers” infringed on the nature of Tatarstan in the amount of 100 million rubles. The Minister for Ecology inspected the sites of illegal quarries – another violation revealed.
Unfavorable weather conditions didn’t stop “black diggers”. Another violation in the field of the use of natural resources was prevented last weekend in Kazan on Yuzhno-promyshlennaya street (near Otara village). Sand was extracted without the relevant documentation on the area of 1.2 thousand square meters. The drivers of an auto-loader and a digger were apprehended, and KAMAZ trucks that transported common mineral resources were registered. Inspectors of the Ministry of Ecology drew a protocol according to part 1 of Article 7.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation “Use of natural resources without an appropriate license to use natural resources”. All the documents pertaining to the case will be referred to the law enforcement agencies to initiate a criminal case.
Violation of the nature protection legislation was revealed in the course of inspection by the Minister for Ecology and Natural Resources of the RT of the sites of illegal quarries in Kazan. Despite the fact that prevention of illegal quarry development is a top-priority issue at the Ministry of Ecology, Farid Abdulganiev ordered to enhance relevant surveillance. “This year we paid much attention to preventative measures and exposure of crimes in the aftermath, and that’s why it was possible to decrease the damage inflicted on the nature by 1.5 times” acknowledged the Minister for Ecology. This year “black diggers” infringed on the nature of Tatarstan in the amount of 100 million rubles, while in 2014 this amount exceeded 150 million rubles.
Seasonal growth of the amount of illegal quarries is observed from late spring to autumn, but despite this fact, by order of the Minister Farid Abdulganiev the work aimed at prevention of illegal extraction will be carried out in winter, since one of the major offences in 2015 was revealed in January at Scherbakovo village of Aviastroitelny district. The crime was reported by the citizens who arranged tours of duty and night raids along with fellow workers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Four lorries were found on site, a digger, and an auto-loader. Mineral surveyors carried out instrumental measurement of the area of volume of sand withdrawn construction sand. Within two days, “black diggers” inflicted the damage in the amount exceeding 4 million rubles. A criminal case was initiated with regard to this fact.
In the last years, the extent of construction work both in Kazan and in the Republic in general has increased, and economic development of Tatarstan is also observed, as a result we observe increase in the demand of common mineral resources, explains Abdulganiev. Augmentation in offences in the field of the use of natural resources almost by 1.5 times is also related thereto (in 2014 – 163, in 2015 - 278). This year ecological specialists suppressed about 300 violations in the field of nature use. This includes both illegal extraction of natural resources and the failure to comply with license requirements. Nine companies of Tatarstan forfeited their right to use mineral resources, and criminal cases were initiated with regard to six materials referred to the law enforcement agencies.
In order to further prevent such cases, regular raids are held on the territory of the Republic, including air tours and water inspections.
The unified geoinformation system was created to ensure accountancy of all the information in the field of nature use.
At present, 641 plots have been included into the data base of wild quarries. The materials were referred to the Nature Protection Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic to implement measures aimed at compulsion to reclaim damaged lands. This year, the activities regarding restoration of fertility have been carried out with regard to 105 quarries of the total area of 108 ha.
Many violations are revealed owing to vigilance of our citizens. The hot line still operates at the Ministry of Ecology at 267-68-67, an address can also be sent to the e-mail eco.signal@tatar.ru or through the system “People’s Control”. Moreover, starting August 1, the citizens who provide operative information on illegal extraction of natural resources with photo or video registration of the violation will get remuneration for doing so.
Press Service of the Ministry