Specialists of the Gorno-Altai University assure that the mass animal pest in the Choi region began due to harmful emissions after the ship crash
Although Rospotrebnadzor has already completed verification of the ecological situation in Altai after the fall of Progress and even managed to publish quite encouraging results, local residents and independent experts who have sided with them continue to sound the alarm. A plague suddenly broke out in the Choi region of the republic: taiga animals perish, fish float up belly in water bodies, and it all started just after the crash of a space truck. Environmentalists incite the population to complain to the president and file a lawsuit. It is very difficult to judge how real the prospects of a trial in such a delicate case as the consequences of the fall of a spacecraft are. Moreover, the Federal Service for the Protection of Consumer Rights has officially denied all reports about the Altai ecological catastrophe, referring to the results of expert reviews conducted by its employees. And so that the responsible officials now have doubts, which will be enough to launch a larger investigation, armor-piercing arguments are needed. If the head of state really gets a slander from Altai and takes it into account, then some steps will definitely be taken. But whether they will help stop the extinction of taiga fauna is still a big question. Experts from the Gorno-Altai University spoke out against the optimistic experts of Rospotrebnadzor, who are confident that there is a direct link between the Progress catastrophe and the death of animals. The head of one of the university laboratories, Anastasia Todozhokova, told reporters that the harmful substances that fell from the fallen space truck into the soil and plants poison herbivores. "Such rare animals as marals and musk deer feed on it",- the specialist laments.
Foresters working in the Choysky district provide a terrible confirmation of her words. They say that such a death in the territories entrusted to them has never been seen during the entire service. With regular rounds, dozens of corpses of taiga inhabitants - sables, chipmunks and other animals are found. One employee of the forest guard told about an absolutely terrible find - "bald carcasses of animals, all of whose fur has come out." They were sent for examination, but its results have not yet been received, or simply not made public.
Environmentalists, of course, are horrified, because the death of our smaller brothers has not just acquired a massive character. The scale and duration of this strange plague cannot be determined, which means that the extent of the damage that will ultimately be caused to the ecology of the area can only be guessed at. And it is difficult to count on the best in this situation, since in the area where Progress collapsed, there are several species of animals listed in the Red Book. And the poison that fell from heaven, alas, does not spare them. “In our area, after the fall of Progress, five species of fish have already disappeared,” says Maria Eldenova, a member of the organizing committee of the ecological group, who personally saw a fish that died from chemical burns in the Karakoksha River.local residents - a small indigenous people of Altai Tubalar - also suffered from the consequences of the crash of a space truck. They are still engaged in subsistence farming, so picking wild plants is vital for them. And people are afraid to make preparations from forest gifts that can be poisoned with poisonous fuel. The admonitions of Rospotrebnadzor, which specially checked the mushrooms and berries and did not find radionuclides in them, did not calm the Altai people.
In order to calm the panic among the local population, officials are ready to organize a re-examination. Whether the Tubalars really sent a letter of complaint to the head of state is not known for certain. But if so, then for sure it will soon become known. In the meantime, it turns out that the alarming news and the panic raised in the media in their wake are just echoes of rumors coming from Altai. This is the status that officials and leaders of that very Gorno-Altai State University are trying to give scandalous information.
Its rector Valery Babin was alarmed when he learned that, with reference to his subordinates, information was being spread about an environmental catastrophe caused by the fall of Progress and hushed up by officials. The head of the university decided to take action - to organize a new study with the participation of his own employees in order to get to the bottom of the truth. Mr. Babin quite definitely expresses his attitude to this story and its presentation in the media by just one formulation "the supposed place of the crash of the space truck." However, it would be unfair to reproach him for this, because federal officials use the same formulations and adhere to the same positions. “Everything that has been published about the mass death of animals is the private opinion of our employee Anastasia Todozhokova. I want to emphasizethat no one applied to the university with a request for any research of the ecological situation after the fall of Progress, and our specialists did not conduct any research in this direction,”Babin said.
The rector explains the departure of the staff of his university to the "field" study with elementary considerations: since the journalists who talk about the ecological disaster refer to the Gorno-Altai State University, then the university itself must make decisive efforts to establish the truth. “We believe that all these statements, roughly speaking, are sucked from the finger. Nevertheless, we are scientists, and therefore must check everything carefully. Next week, a group of our specialists will go to Choysky District, where they will take samples of plants, soil and water. Maybe we will be presented with those declared bald carcasses of animals for their examination. We will talk with people - local residents, hunters, fishermen."