The authorities in Daghestan have launched a criminal investigation into water cuts in Kaspiysk’s residential buildings. According to the republic’s Investigative Committee, the water shortages are being investigated as under charges of negligence.
Problems with water supply in Kaspiysk have been ongoing since the beginning of January. In a number of districts, water is supplied for less than half an hour a day, forcing residents to buy drinking water in stores.
Reports of water cuts in Kaspiysk first appeared on 8 January. According to local residents, by that time there had already been no water in their homes for about a week. Residents said they had repeatedly contacted their local water provider, Gorvodokanal, and the city administration, but received no response to their complaints. Residents in Kaspiysk have also expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of official information about the cuts.
On the same day, the Prosecutor’s Office said it would issue a legal assessment of the situation. On the evening of 9 January, the Kaspiysk administration announced that repair works on the water pipeline supplying the city had been completed and that water supply would be restored overnight. However, residents expressed dissatisfaction with the officials’ explanations, which linked the accident to increased water consumption in Kaspiysk — a justification residents deemed insufficient.
On 10 January, the authorities of Kaspiysk reported delays in water supply, citing the need to fill reservoirs. At the same time, residents said that water appeared only for a short period of time and that there was no organised delivery of drinking water. In comments on social media, residents pointed out that the short-term water supply they were provided with did not even meet minimal household needs.
On 12 January, representatives of the municipal authorities said that equipment adjustments were underway in Kaspiysk and promised that water supply would be fully restored by 13 January. At the same time, some residents continued to report disruptions and a lack of water.
As a result, the Investigative Department in Kaspiysk launched their investigation, saying it would provide a legal assessment of the actions or inaction of officials responsible for ensuring uninterrupted access to water in Kaspiysk. Investigators intend to establish the causes of the disruption, as well as the circumstances that led to the violation of the residents’ rights.
The situation was also commented on by the Head of Daghestan, Sergei Melikov, who criticised the lackluster efforts to restore the municipality’s water supply. Addressing the mayor of the city, Boris Gontsov, Melikov said that issues with the water supply in Kaspiysk began long before the New Year holidays, and that residents should have been informed in advance about the difficulties associated with resolving them. He said that where prompt repairs were impossible, emergency measures should have been taken to provide people with water and to avoid dissatisfaction during the holiday period.
Under the federal law, interruptions in water supplies are permitted only in emergency situations. At the same time, the duration of an outage must not exceed 24 consecutive hours, and local authorities are obliged to ensure the delivery of drinking water to residents during repair works.
At the time of publication, water supply had still not been fully restored to normal operation in a number of districts of Kaspiysk, as the authorities continued their investigation.
Elizaveta Chukharova
