Renaming streets in Makhachkala has complicated flood victims' efforts to receive compensation.
Despite the Makhachkala administration's expansion of the emergency zone, victims are experiencing problems receiving payments—many of them need additional certificates stating that their street has changed its name, city residents reported.
As reported by Caucasian Knot, the Makhachkala administration has decided to expand the boundaries of the territory where the emergency situation is in effect. The updated list of areas under a state of emergency due to flooding includes 759 streets in Makhachkala.
"Caucasian Knot" has prepared a detailed guide to help you understand who is eligible for payments, the amounts provided, the required documents, and what to do if some documents are missing.
The "Patient Monitor and Housing and Utilities" project has named 16 areas in Makhachkala whose residents have already contacted them regarding payment denials following the flooding. Social media users believe the denials are widespread. Most often, people mention that they were denied payment because the street wasn't on the list of those affected by the flooding.
Political scientist Albert Esedov told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that it's unclear why the authorities only expanded the emergency zones in Makhachkala a month later.
"It would have been enough to simply look at the flood map and add the addresses within that zone. And we're not talking about universal compensation. This is simply an opportunity to submit an application and have it considered after the fact. The fact that these streets weren't initially included on the list of addresses with emergency status has led to a surge in dissatisfied people who are forced to prove that they, too, were affected by the emergency," Esedov said.
He added that he found his Rassvetnaya Street, and even parallel streets, on the list of additional streets affected by the emergency. He noted that his house was not damaged by flooding because he had done a lot of work to prevent this before construction, including investing in drainage systems.
Problems with payments could arise due to street renaming
People may have problems receiving compensation due to the mass renaming of streets in Makhachkala, Esedov believes.
"What should we do with addresses whose names were mercilessly changed in the city? According to our passports, we don't have Rassvetnaya Street; the stamp says 11th, 12th, 13th line. What should we do with damaged houses whose owners have one address in their documents, but new names appear in the new address registers? Will they deny assistance because the old addresses were not included within the emergency zone boundaries? Or will we have to run around getting a certificate stating "is the old address new?" "There are no explanations or instructions regarding this matter," Esedov believes.
A state of emergency is the response procedure for all levels of government in the event of an emergency. Information on the criteria for assessing an emergency, the response levels, and the structures and resources for eliminating the consequences can be found in the "Caucasian Knot" document "State of Emergency (ES)".
A Makhachkala resident named Rabadan, who lives on Uzornaya Street, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about a similar case. He previously reported that he had applied for compensation and was awaiting a response.
On April 29, he reported that he received a refusal, citing the fact that his passport listed his registration address as an old one, but now the address has changed. "Our district used to be called 'Aviagregat,' and there weren't any streets as such, just house numbers. Now they've told me to reapply to the MFC with the new address, and to do that, I need a certificate confirming the street name change. "We'll reapply, and if they refuse this time, we'll file
complaints with all authorities," says Rabadan.
In August 2019, the city's Department of Architecture and Urban Development reported that about 100 streets in Makhachkala had received new names, and 1,800 buildings had been renumbered.
A resident of Atlanaulskaya Azhay Street told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that their compensation application was rejected due to an "incomplete set of documents"; they weren't told what was missing.
"We found a mistake in their lists—they listed the wrong microdistrict. Plus, I'm registered at a different address in my passport, and the Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services lists my registered address as my residence address. If I had applied through the MFC, I would have attached documents proving my home ownership and utility bills, but I didn't have time. I reapplied through Gosuslugi. The Emergency Situations Department said that the refusal can be appealed, the main thing is that the application is submitted within the established deadline," the Makhachkala resident said.
The Makhachkala authorities' decision is associated with the risk of increasing public discontent.
Esedov suggested that protest activity is possible amid delays in compensation payments.
"Considering what is happening after the emergency, and the sluggish progress on paying compensation to all victims, this is not out of the question. If there are also instances of unjustified compensation for property losses being received by those who were not injured, tensions will rise. Given the existing utility problems, this could become a factor in tensions among the population during the election year," the political scientist believes.
Lawyer Ali Aliyev told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the expansion of the emergency zone in Makhachkala could be connected to widespread social media posts by residents about instances of compensation denials.
"Why was this done only a month later? I believe it was after the Russian president voiced his position on this issue. He said he was aware that many damaged houses in Dagestan were built without proper documentation. But these people also need assistance, even if they lack documentation for their homes. "Dagestani officials, fearing the possible consequences of protest sentiment—and they could,
given the scale of the floods—have therefore expanded this list," the lawyer suggested.
The Ministry of Labor explained the denials of payments by decisions of the Makhachkala authorities.
On April 26, the NNT channel published a video message from a resident of Makhachkala's Gazoraspredelitelny district, in which she says that the house where she has lived for more than two decades is in disrepair and could collapse
at any moment. The woman contacted the Multifunctional Center (MFC), but instead of assistance, she was refused.
The Ministry of Labor of Dagestan commented on this situation on its Telegram channel on April 28.
"By law, payments are assigned after confirmation that the applicant's address is included in the emergency zone. Such a zone is determined by the Makhachkala city administration by its decree. The address of one of the applicants was not included in the emergency zone. Therefore, the Ministry of Labor, acting strictly in accordance with the law, cannot make the payment," the publication states.
The Ministry of Labor added that the Makhachkala administration periodically clarifies the boundaries of the emergency zone and amends the relevant decree. Once this happens, the woman will be able to reapply, and the payment will be made.
The Ministry of Labor also reviewed another case, that of a woman whose home is located in the emergency zone who complained about the lack of payments. The application of the applicant, Umiyat, has been accepted and is being processed by the Makhachkala administration, where specialists must officially confirm her residence at the stated address and that her property was damaged. Once the conclusions are received by the Ministry of Labor, payments will be assigned, the ministry reports.