Landfill of the city of Osh
The landfill in the city of Osh does not meet environmental and technical requirements and poses a threat to the residents of the villages of DEU and Japalak.
Currently, waste from Osh is transported to a landfill located five kilometers from the city. It was built back in the late 1950s and covers an area of over 50 hectares. Every day, about 160 trucks of waste are taken from Osh to the landfill.
“Inspectors from the interregional inspection management for the city of Osh have repeatedly issued directives to the local government demanding that this landfill be brought into order. However, none of the requirements have been met by the local authorities,” noted the State Ecological and Technical Inspection.
The landfill has occupied a 54-hectare site since 1970. However, during this time, representatives of the local government have not legalized it.
The area of the landfill is not fenced, and during strong winds, plastic bags and other debris fly into the homes of rural residents. Disinfection work is also not carried out here.
“Solid household waste should be stored separately, and the carcasses of various animals and hazardous waste should be buried in special pits. But none of these requirements are being met. According to specialists, if the landfill is not relocated to another area, there is a significant threat to the health and lives of the residents of the village of Japalak. To date, inspectors from the State Ecological and Technical Inspection have held the municipal management 'Osh-Tazalyk' administratively responsible due to gross violations of environmental and technical safety requirements,” the State Ecological and Technical Inspection stated.
The Osh landfill is located, like many other landfills in Kyrgyzstan, right next to residential areas. "One kilometer from the landfill is the village of DEU. The people living there complain about air and water pollution and regular infectious diseases.
More than a thousand people live in the village of DEU. One of them, 70-year-old Monuskan Toychieva, says that during Soviet times, the landfill was often disinfected, but now this work has stopped.
According to the pensioner, after eight in the evening, the village is enveloped in a gray, bitter smoke because at this time waste is actively burned at the landfill. Therefore, by nightfall, the air in DEU becomes unbearable, and local residents try to avoid going outside. “Our children are constantly suffering from various infectious diseases. My daughter has been walking around with swollen and red eyes for a month. In the kindergarten she attends, other children also often get sick,” says another villager.”
Local residents often complain about environmental pollution and health problems. They believe that the cause of their troubles is the landfill, the closure of which they have been waiting for years.
“Our children are constantly suffering from various infectious diseases. My daughter has been walking around with swollen and red eyes for a month. In the kindergarten she attends, other children also often get sick,” one of the local residents reported at the beginning of this year.
The residents of DEU have repeatedly held protests demanding the relocation of the landfill, but the authorities have virtually ignored their requests.
It should be noted that on September 27, 2022, the deputies of the Osh City Council agreed to obtain a loan from the European Investment Bank in the amount of 3 million euros for the reclamation of the landfill and the construction of a new one.
Prior to this, in 2012, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) allocated nearly 11 million euros for the construction of a new landfill, 5 million of which was a loan for 12 years.
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