27 November 2019, 21:16
Resident of Pankisi George killed in shootout provoked by HPP construction
One person was killed and four others were injured as a result of a conflict between residents of the Pankisi Gorge, who argued about the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (HPP) on the Alazani River.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that starting from 2018, villagers from the Pankisi Gorge oppose the construction of a HPP on the Alazani River. On April 21, 2019, a protest rally in the village of Birkiani in the Akhmeta District resulted in clashes, during which 38 policemen and 17 local residents were injured. After the protest action, the Georgian authorities announced the suspension of the HPP construction.
The construction of the HPP will improve the road and energy infrastructure in the Pankisi Gorge, but for the local residents, water and pastures are more important, and the villagers are afraid of losing them, Georgian economists note. Human rights defenders and the opposition criticized the Georgian authorities for aggravation of the situation in the Pankisi Gorge.
According to the "Mtavari" TV Channel, Luiza Mutoshvili, a relative of a man killed in a clash, explained that the parties to the conflict had different opinions concerning the construction of the "Khadori-3" HPP.
The killed man and the injured people fell victim to a shootout between members of two families, the "Georgia Online" reports. "There was a kind of a conflict between them, for some personal reasons. Today, there was a continuation of the conflict, and the topic of the HPP construction was also raised," said Ramzan Gorgishvili, a resident of the Pankisi Gorge, as quoted by the "News-Georgia".
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 27, 2019 at 03:49 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Galina Gotua Source: CK correspondent
