Source of Shymkent Air Pollution Complaints Still Unclear

Shymkent residents continue to complain about a strong smell that appears mostly at night. After Orda.kz reported on the issue, the city’s Ecology Department sent an official response and acknowledged that odor complaints remain one of Shymkent’s main environmental problems.

Residents most often complain about areas near PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP and enterprises in the Ontustik and Ordabasy industrial zones. However, nighttime air measurements have not shown pollution levels above the legal limit. According to the department, similar results were recorded by the sanitary-epidemiological service and Kazhydromet.

Shymkent is already one of the cities with increased air pollution. Air quality is affected not only by factories, but also by vehicles, coal heating in the private sector, waste burning and weather conditions,the Ecology Department said.

Since the beginning of the year, the department has received 29 complaints, and specialists have made 238 site visits. But residents continue to report strong smells. Last night, people from several districts again wrote to Orda.kz about a smell resembling burnt rubber.

It was impossible to open the windows at night. There was a strong smell of burnt rubber. At first, we thought wiring or a socket was burning at home. We checked everything and then called friends from another district. It turned out they had exactly the same smell,a Shymkent resident said.

Official inspections have not found any excess pollution so far, but residents continue to report strong nighttime odors. The exact source remains unclear.

Original author: Alexandra Kim

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