A construction company in Tashkent arbitrarily felled 51 trees and will pay about 5.6 billion soums

Inspection on Zharkurgan Street

The eco-police of the National Committee for Ecology and Climate Change conducted an inspection of the activities of B.D. LLC, which is building a multi-story residential complex on Zharkurgan Street in the Yashnabad district of Tashkent. This was reported by Kun.uz and Gazeta.uz citing the committee; the inspection was carried out with prior notification of the entrepreneur's representative. The company had positive conclusions of the state environmental expertise for each stage of construction, however, as the committee noted, most of the requirements set out in these conclusions were not fulfilled.

Dirt on the streets and tons of waste without documents

No wheel-washing stations for trucks were set up at the entrances and exits of the construction site, as a result of which dirt and soil were spread along Zharkurgan Street over a distance of 2–2.5 km. According to the committee, after the dirt dried, passing vehicles ground it up, causing heavy dust to rise over the street; no measures to protect atmospheric air were developed. The company could not present any documents showing where 126,188.9 tons of waste from demolishing old buildings and 368,432 tons of soil from excavating the foundation pit had been taken. Another 12,036 tons of solid household and construction waste were dumped on the construction site in an unauthorized location, and no contracts for waste removal or wastewater transportation were concluded.

Felling despite a refusal and sanctions

A separate violation was the felling of trees: the company applied to cut down 50 junipers and one plane tree, but the Tashkent City Environmental Inspectorate refused — nevertheless, the trees were felled. Gazeta.uz also clarifies that the requirements of the expertise were not fulfilled either, including landscaping at least 25% of the territory under the Yashil Makon program and developing a carbon neutrality plan. The committee qualified the violations under the laws 'On Environmental Protection', 'On Protection of Atmospheric Air' and 'On Waste'.

Financial consequences

For environmental pollution and the unlawful placement of waste, the company was charged compensation in the amount of 5 billion 183 million 364 thousand 476 soums (Kun.uz rounds it to 5,183.3 million), and for the destroyed trees — compensation for damage to flora of 396 million soums. In addition, the company is obliged to plant 100 saplings for each felled tree — 5,100 in total — at least three years old, and to care for them for three years. The head of the enterprise was given an administrative fine of 4.4 million soums under Part 1 of Article 85-1 of the Administrative Liability Code (failure to comply with atmospheric air protection requirements at construction sites). The committee also issued an order: to take urgent measures against dust formation, organize the measurement, removal and processing of waste on the site, and submit the draft 'Environmental Impact Statement' for review by December 10.