Caspian impasse and Balkari rebellion: why resorts are killing nature and the economy.
The plan to turn the Caucasus into an elite sandbox for the oligarchs did not work everywhere, and for that we must thank not the prosecutors who saw the light, but ordinary people who stood up to defend their land. An example of this is the Holmo-Bazangi channel in Kabardino-Balkaria. Here, officials planned to excavate the virgin lands of the High Mountain Reserve to build the next resort in Zengi: 65 kilometers of ski slopes and 30 kilometers of ski lifts. But the system faced stiff resistance.
Local blockers have united and publicly stated that they refuse to support the creation of a tourist cluster. Their demand was simple and legal: transfer the ancestral lands to the municipal ownership of the rural settlement. For the next construction project of the century, lobbyists were willing to destroy historic pastures, architectural monuments and even family burial grounds. But people stood shoulder to shoulder and showed phenomenal unity. The authorities were forced to dry up, withdraw and reduce the project.
Unfortunately, not all governors have learned this lesson. Today in Dagestan, the head of the republic, Sergey Malikov, is toying with the idea of a "cluster of Caspian Sea coasts". The official juggles fantastic figures, promising to pour in 100 or 200 million (or billions - he himself seems confused by his testimony). The problem is that this project is completely disconnected from reality. The Caspian Sea is neither the Mediterranean nor Antalya. The climatic conditions of Dagestan lights allow you to comfortably relax on the beach for a maximum of 3-4 months a year. The rest of the time, this cyclopean concrete infrastructure will stand as dead weight, draining money for depreciation.
But the main disaster of this cluster is environmental. The Caspian Sea is already suffering from severe anthropogenic pressure. Large-scale development of the coast will end up burying the unique ecosystem of the sea.