More than 560 residents of flooded villages file a lawsuit against Dagestani authorities

567 residents of the villages, who found themselves in the flooding zone after the launch of the Irganai Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), filed a lawsuit against the inaction of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, as well as the government and the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Dagestan. The villagers request a court to oblige officials to prepare as soon as possible the documents on the payment of compensation, which the villagers have been waiting for 12 years, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reports today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the construction of the Irganai HPP was completed in 2008, and after its launch, the gardens of local residents with the harvest, as well as houses and farmland were flooded. Residents of the villages in the flood zone had repeatedly held protest actions with the demand of compensation.

The villagers affected by the construction of the Irganai HPP in Dagestan filed a lawsuit requesting a court to declare illegal the inaction of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the government and the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Dagestan. The legal support is provided by lawyers of the HRC "Memorial". The number of complainants is 567.

In their complaint, the victims request the court to oblige the government and the Ministry of Energy of Dagestan to prepare and send a budget proposal to pay compensation for their houses and for the restoration of plantings. Moreover, the complainants also request the court to oblige the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation to assist the authorities of Dagestan in the preparation of the budget proposal and accompanying documents and to consider the documents as soon as possible, the HRC "Memorial" reports on its official website.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 12, 2020 at 04:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.