Fishermen held a protest rally in the village of Mayak, Neftchala region

Baku/01.12.22/Turan:  On December 1, in the Neftchala region, residents of settlements on the coast of the Kura held a rally against the construction of dams in the river to prevent Caspian water from entering the river. Residents claim that this dam will interfere with the rise of sea fish to spawn in the Kura, which will undermine the fishery on the Kura. More than a hundred local residents came to the action.

The action in the Mayak village was observed by the police, no violence  was used against citizens,  a participant, a resident of Neftchala, Khayala Agalarova, told Turan.

Burjali Agayev, deputy head of the region's executive power, who arrived at the scene of the rally, suggested that citizens apply to the Neftchala District Executive Office in writing, promising to provide an answer in the manner prescribed by law. But the residents expressed their distrust of the local authorities,” Agalarova said, noting that the district executive office did not promise to fulfill the demands of the residents to stop the construction of dams.

According to her, if people's demands are not met, they will continue to fight to stop the construction of dams on the Kura. The height of the dams is set at one meter above the river surface, said Agalarova foreman, who is working on the Kura.

The chairman of the Association for the Promotion of Democracy, Emil Mammadov (Salyan), spoke out against the construction of dams. He told Turan that the ongoing work on the Kura will lead to the impoverishment of the population of Neftchala and Salyan, for whom catching and selling fish remains the only source of income. Mammadov also does not believe that dam valves will solve the problem of letting spawning marine fish into the Kura.

"At the dams, people close to the authorities will poach and scoop out all the fish, leaving nothing for other fishermen," he added.

The executive power of the Neftchala region did not answer Turan's questions. The worker who picked up the phone advised me to contact the information department. But they don't answer the phones.

The press service of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan told Turan that they were not involved in the work on the Kura, near the village of Mayak, and recommended  to contact then Executive Power of Neftchala.—0—