In Angarsk, they continue to build homes for orphans a hundred meters from the ammonia base, where 40 tons of poisonous gas are stored.
After high-profile publications in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Irkutsk Region conducted a large-scale check and found that the 251st quarter, which became famous throughout the country, was built where housing should not be at all. This was stated by the head of the department Anatoly Sitnikov.
But then why were the residential buildings accepted and commissioned? As it turned out, the answer contains … the general plan of Angarsk. This document, developed at the initiative of Mayor Sergei Petrov in 2015, raised many questions already at the discussion stage. Both from the public and from the government of the Irkutsk region, especially from the architecture service, since it did not comply with urban planning legislation.
However, the Duma of the Angarsk municipal formation in 2016 approved the plan by a majority vote. Since then, the proactive people of Angarsk have been seeking its cancellation through the courts.
The master plan is “a set of abstract pictures and declarations,” Alexey Zhemchuzhnikov, chairman of the Irkutsk regional public organization Center for Social Projects and Initiatives “Dialogue Platform”, told RG. … Therefore, residential buildings and the ammonia base are 50-100 meters apart, although SanPiN requires a distance of at least half a kilometer. “
This was also confirmed by the lawyer, representative of the plaintiffs in the case on the general plan of the Angarsk urban district, Sergei Butakov: “It is impossible to establish where the sanitary zones are located directly on the terrain. Their area is not described. The map contained in the general plan resembles a simple drawing from which nothing is clear.” According to him, all changes made to the general plan are not displayed on the map, they are only entered into the information system, “the data from which the administration of the Angarsk urban district skillfully manipulates.”
Rescuers offered to provide orphans with gas masks in case of ammonia leak
Quarter 251 was popularly called the “orphan ghetto” – the houses there are unsuitable for life. And it’s not just a dangerous neighborhood. The quality of the building also leaves much to be desired: the walls freeze through in the apartments, the plaster falls off from the dampness, the fungus creeps. The problem was discussed at the May meeting in the regional government, then at the June session in the regional legislature, but no decisions were made. The only thing that the parliamentarians agreed with was the proposal of rescuers to provide residents of the 251st quarter with gas masks. According to a spokesman for the department, “the threat of an ammonia leak is real, and the consequences are unpredictable.”
The idea of resettlement of houses built in violation of safety rules, expressed during the discussion, was rejected by the Minister of Property Relations of the region Marina Byrgazova. “Funds for providing orphans with housing have already been allocated, – she said. – The ministry does not plan to re-allocate money. Those who are dissatisfied with the quality of housing can go to court.”
This is how a collective appeal to the Angarsk prosecutor’s office was born, where people asked to stop the development of the quarter. And the mother of many children, Alena Stroeva, wrote an appeal to the presidential administration. In it, she asked to recognize their housing as emergency. Stroeva received an answer from the Angarsk administration. It reported that upon acceptance of houses in the 251st quarter “the quality of construction was confirmed,” there is no information in the administration that the industrial base with ammonia is a hazardous facility.
Officially
The department of Alexander Bastrykin told the “RG” correspondent that the Investigative Committee pays special attention to protecting the rights of orphans. In September 2021, Alexander Bastrykin instructed the head of the IC for the Irkutsk region, Anatoly Sitnikov, to report on the verification of information about the violation of the rights of orphans in Angarsk. The fact is that, according to media reports, including Rossiyskaya Gazeta, housing built there under the programs of resettlement of orphans does not have its own heating network and is connected to a private heating main.
Investigators give a legal assessment to this fact within the framework of the case initiated under the article “abuse of office”. It has already been established that in 2017, officials of the Angarsk administration unreasonably issued a permit to an individual entrepreneur to commission a section of the heating network, to which he registered ownership. These actions violated the rights of residents of apartment buildings in the 251st quarter of Angarsk, limiting their ability to obtain heat, and caused significant damage to the budget of Angarsk.
Investigative actions are also continuing in the criminal case initiated on the fact of the construction of these houses near the ammonia refrigeration plant in the 251st quarter. In this case, the documentation was seized, a number of officials were interrogated, including the head of the architecture and urban planning department of the AGO administration. Investigators will carefully understand all the circumstances and give a legal assessment to each fact of violation of the rights of orphans.
Prepared Natalia Kozlova
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