(KZN.RU,
June 1). Today Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, visited the lakes Svetloe and
Bolshoe Lebyazhie during a press tour together with journalists from city,
republican and federal newspapers. At present, full-scale works on
eco-rehabilitation are carrying out in the bowl of lakes. Nafisa Mingazova, the
professor, head of the Department of Environmental Management and Water
Management, Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of the KFU, took
part in a press tour together with the head of the city.
During the
press tour, Ilsur Metshin noted that all the works are coordinated with
environmentalists and some are carried out at their “urgent demand”. “We do not
have the right to make a mistake. The project is of great importance for the
ecosystem of Kazan. We will significantly improve the overall ecological
situation on the territory of Big Kazan by the restoration of lakes”, he
marked. The Mayor noted that the restored reservoir can be compared with
Kazanka in the water area from the Kirovskaya dam to the Leninskaya dam by the
volume of water: “This is big waters! The area of the water surface will
increase to 36 hectares”.
Nafisa
Mingazova, who has been involved in the state of the Lebyazhie Lake system for
many years, noted that the restoration of lakes means a lot to her and that the
ongoing work is in accordance with the project. “I believe that the project is
unique and it was not implemented in this version in our country. If we do it
safely, we will get water objects that would please people for 200 years”, she
said.
Igor
Kulyazhev, the deputy head of the Executive Committee and the chairman of the
Committee for External Improvement, spoke about the details of the ongoing
work. According to the project, it is planned to deepen the bottom of lakes
Svetloe and Bolshoe by 3-4 meters. This depth will restore the ecosystem of the
lakes. Then on June 13, it is planned to begin waterproofing the bottom of the
Bolshoe Lake, on July 17 – the Svetloe Lake. As I. Kulyazhev explained, the
three-layer waterproofing material, which passed the ecological expertise, will
be used. It will not allow the water to escape into the sand so that the lakes
will not dry out.
After
completion of the waterproofing works, the water will be sent through the water
pipe to Svetloe Lake from Izumrudnoe Lake (it connects with the Kuibyshev
Reservoir by underground water). The lakes Svetloe, Bolshoe and Maloe Lebyazhie
are connected by ducts so the water will fill the entire territory. As the
committee’s chairman noted, it will take 2-3 months to completely fill the
territory with water.
100-150
people and about a hundred units of various special equipment are involved in
the facility. After carrying out dredging works, the waterproofing of the
bottom will be carried out, and it will prevent water from leaving the bowl of
lakes in the sand. Works on two lakes will go at the same time.
The full
restoration of the unique natural facility will increase the water surface of
the lakes from 4.2 hectares to 36 hectares, create an unprecedented place for
rest and communication with nature, and improve the overall ecological
situation in the territory of Big Kazan.
The system
of the Lebiazhie Lakes consisted of four lakes: Bolshoe, Maloe, Svetloe, and
Suhoe. Lakes are not fueled by groundwater, existing at the expense of the
catchment area from all adjacent territory. The desiccation of lakes began in
the 60s of the last century due to the fact that the water balance of the
Lebiazhie Lake was disturbed in the process of building roads and industrial
structures. Over the past forty years, the lakes have been drying up, despite a
number of attempts to save them by pumping water. The unique natural site for
the region is now lost by more than 70%.
Due to the
reduction of the catchment area from 8 thousand hectares to 650 hectares, the
Suhoe Lake has been completely lost, and Svetloe and Bolshoe lakes have
practically dried up. There is a gradual drying of the Maloe Lake, which has
been filled only by pumping water in recent years.
The
decision to save the lakes was made in 2016 by Rustam Minnikhanov, the
President of Tatarstan. The result of the first stage of the work was the
construction of a pumping station and reconstruction of a pressure water
pipeline from the Izumrudnoe Lake to the Svetloe Lebyazhie Lake.
The Mayor
of Kazan together with journalists drove to the Bolshoe Lake, where the beach
is also planned to be built. On the way, Ilsur Metshin shared his impressions
of the work: “The scale of the work is enormous. It would be nice to do
everything for people so that both vacationers and ecologists would be satisfied”,
I. Metshin noted the significance of the project for Kazan.
As for the
beach, according to the project, its length will be about 200 meters. Ilsur
Metshin instructed Igor Kulyazhev to work out the issue of increasing the beach
area and Sergei Mironov, the head of the Moskovsky and Kirovsky districts of
Kazan, to learn about the preferences of vacationers, where it would be more
convenient for them to make recreation areas on water. “Why build a beach
blindly, where it will not be convenient for tourists? If there are comfortable
and favorite places, it is necessary to make beach areas there”, said Ilsur
Metshin.
They
stopped separately on the Suhoe Lake. As it was told to journalists during the
press tour, it was almost 80% covered by a 15-20-year old forest. There are
species of plants from the Red Book species, live animals, so this territory
will be left unchanged. I. Metshin marked that this decision was also
repeatedly discussed at the eco-council, and a decision was made not to do
harm.
The Mayor
of Kazan noted that the programs for the improvement of parks, squares, and
water areas are realized thanks to the support of Rustam Minnikhanov, the
President of the RT. The head of the city also thanked the group of companies
“TAIF”, which is the general sponsor of the implementation of the
eco-rehabilitation project for the lake system Lebyazhie.
At the end,
Ilsur Metshin addressed to Nafisa Mingazova and urged her, as an ecologist, to
monitor the work and inform him of any deviations from the project.