Oskemen: Senator Calls For Special Commission

Senator Olga Bulavkina spoke about the smog in Oskemen. She says it is causing an increase in cancer cases, and children have been transferred to distance learning, Orda.kz reports. 

400 thousand residents of the East Kazakhstan region live in unfavorable environmental conditions.

Kazhydromet indicates that on November 27-29, 2024, the region recorded an excess of maximum permissible concentrations of three harmful and hazardous substances.

The MPC for sulfur dioxide was exceeded by 2.5 times, for carbon monoxide by 2.2 times, for hydrogen sulfide by 4.4 times, and for hydrogen chloride by nine times.

She has urged to set up a government commission to monitor the environmental situation in areas with high pollution levels.

And also to take measures to eliminate the causes of the unfavorable environmental situation.

She also considers it necessary to ratchet up the requirements for industrial and production facility owners to provide automatic air quality monitoring stations. 

Thirdly, to tighten the liability of legal entities and individuals for obstructing the implementation of state environmental control by officials. All measures taken will become an important tool in ensuring the safety of citizens' health, as well as in compliance with environmental standards, the senator added.

For several weeks now, Oskemen has been shrouded in thick smog. Against this backdrop, clinic visits have increased, as have complaints. 

Original Author: Ilya Astakhov