About 700 trees destroyed at a construction site in Chilanzar

Our publication received an appeal from residents who live in Chilanzar district of Tashkent, in the neighborhood called “Uzbekfilm” street, on the banks of the Burijar canal. We listened to the words of residents who are suffering from the constructions in the area.

Allegedly, they have been suffering for several years as a result of the works being carried out within the framework of the project called “Seoul Moon”.

“Isn’t it possible for officials to come and meet with residents and learn the real situation before giving a signed consent for any construction? Will someone ask for our opinion?” Shakhzoda Ganiyeva, a resident of the neighborhood, says. She said that the walls of the residents’ houses were cracked and sunk due to the impact of demolition and construction works carried out on the other side. In addition, people have contracted allergic diseases due to the construction dust.

“Besides, under the pretext of carrying out cleaning and leveling works, they destroyed the trees on the bank. Now they are surrounding the land near our houses,” another citizen said.

Arriving at the scene, activists listened to opinions of the residents regarding the cases of tree cutting and expressed their opinions in this regard. According to MP Rasul Kusherbayev, about 700 trees were destroyed in the area, and a criminal case has been initiated.

During the moratorium, hundreds of trees were lost in a single case, Ismatilla Muslimov, the deputy head of the control-inspection division of the Tashkent city ecology department, confirmed in an interview with Kun.uz.

It is known that the territory was given to Ozun Tashkent Construction LLC PE. According to Muslimov, as a result of the environmental expertise conducted before the start of construction works, the construction company was given an environmental report containing more than 20 requirements that must be fulfilled. Environmentalists allowed tree transplants, but warned of liability if transplanted trees die or are cut down without being transplanted.

“Our inspectors visited the site and studied. According to the results of the study, it was found that the trees in this area were transplanted by the “Urmon invest” organization. Currently, the collected documents have been sent to the prosecutor’s office due to the presence of signs of crime.

They say that we have transplanted it, but they could not show exactly where they transplanted it. A couple of trees were shown, but their diameter did not match those of trees in the register.

In the first register, there were more than 690 trees in the area, which now have disappeared. The document was formalized and submitted to the Chilanzar district prosecutor’s office,” the representative of the eco-inspection said.

Azim Maratov, the lawyer of Ozun Tashkent Construction company, commented on the situation in an interview with us. According to him, he met with representatives of the population, the houses of the residents were not damaged in the 2nd stage of the ongoing construction, and the work of the 3rd stage, which is directly close to the neighborhood, has not yet started. Fencing the area was completed taking into account safety reasons, there is no legal prohibition, no damage was done to trees in the places where construction of the 3rd stage will take place, cutting or transplanting of trees there is carried out in accordance with the law, after obtaining the necessary permission. 

It is known that 3 hectares of land has been allocated for the “Seoul Moon” complex, which includes a commercial and household service complex, a parking lot, and a restaurant.

As mentioned above, at the same time, a criminal case has been initiated. Kun.uz is trying to get information about the case, in particular, how many of the trees cut were perennial and valuable trees. It will follow the development of events.