Rospotrebnadzor responded to a video about pollution of a beach in Makhachkala
Since the beginning of the swimming season, five warnings have been sent to the Makhachkala mayor's office due to pollution of sea water on the beaches, Rospotrebnadzor reported after the publication of a video about sewage discharges on the Berezka beach.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, in March 2024, Rospotrebnadzor demanded that the Makhachkala administration eliminate the discharge of wastewater into the Caspian Sea from the Berezka beach. The inspection was carried out after complaints from residents. Later, the agency went to court, since the mayor's office did not comply with the requirements. Closing one drain will not change the environmental situation in the Caspian Sea; construction of treatment facilities and systematic work are necessary, activists said.
Back in June 2022, Rospotrebnadzor reported that the level of bacterial pollution of the Caspian Sea water within the boundaries of Makhachkala exceeds hygienic standards. Sewage discharges flow directly into the sea without treatment facilities, activists of the "Our City" movement said.
A video filmed on the beach was published on September 4 in its Telegram channel by the "Chernovik" publication. "In Makhachkala, on the Berezka beach, there is a sewage leak," a reader's message is quoted in the annotation to the video.
The 35-second video shows a deserted beach. In two places on the beach, a dark-colored liquid is intensively flowing from underground, forming small dirty puddles that flow into the sea. There is sound in the video - in particular, the sound of the wind can be heard - but the author of the video does not comment on what is happening out loud. As of 11:05 Moscow time, there were no comments under the publication.
The Rospotrebnadzor Administration for Dagestan published an explanation on its Telegram channel on September 5, noting that it was responding specifically to this publication in Chernovik.
In 2025, the Makhachkala mayor's office received a small fine and five warnings
The agency explained that it had previously inspected the territory of the Berezka beach and identified "instances of systematic discharge of wastewater, which poses a serious threat to the ecological balance of the region and public health."
"Based on the data received, the Rospotrebnadzor Administration filed a claim with the Soviet Court of the city of Makhachkala, demanding that the Makhachkala city administration eliminate the identified violations. The court satisfied the claims of the Administration dated 01/09/2025 (case No. 2-a-210/2025). However, the Makhachkala city administration, disagreeing with the court's decision, appealed to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Dagestan. The appellate court upheld the decision of the court of first instance unchanged, confirming the legality and validity of the Department's demands. The decision came into force on 20.05.2025," the publication says.
The Makhachkala city administration was brought to administrative responsibility in the form of a fine of 10,000 rubles
Based on the court's decision, the Makhachkala mayor's office "is obliged to take measures to eliminate the discharge of wastewater into the Caspian Sea," the department emphasized. "Additionally, for failure to comply with the order of the Department for the preparation of the Berezka beach zone for the summer season of 2025, the Makhachkala city administration was brought to administrative responsibility in the form of a fine of 10,000 rubles," the report says.
In addition, since the beginning of the beach season in 2025, due to the discrepancy between sea water samples on the beaches and hygienic standards, five "warnings about the inadmissibility of violations" have been sent to the city administration, the Rospotrebnadzor Department reported. As of 11:05 Moscow time, there are no comments under this publication
As of 11:05 Moscow time, the Makhachkala administration has not commented on the video from the beach or the publication of Rospotrebnadzor in its Telegram channel.
Recall that in May, on the eve of the swimming season, monitoring of the condition of beach areas in Dagestan showed non-compliance with standards in 12 out of 21 water samples taken by Rospotrebnadzor. Almost the entire coastline in Dagestan is dangerous for swimming, as sewage is discharged into the sea, environmentalists said.
Two years earlier, in May 2023, the mayor's office of Kaspiysk, which borders Makhachkala, announced a ban on swimming in the sea due to the sanitary and epidemiological situation. The authorities should fight pollution of the Caspian Sea, and not impose bans on swimming, city residents said at the time.
In 2021, a court in Makhachkala ordered the local administration to stop discharging untreated wastewater into the Caspian Sea. Following inspections, 12 criminal cases were opened on the facts of pollution of the Caspian Sea, eight points of discharge of polluted water were closed. Makhachkala is facing an acute problem with its wastewater treatment facilities, activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" indicated.