Almaty residents can donate for restoration of Mokhnatka mount

Almaty residents will be able to take part in the campaign to save and restore the fire-damaged Mokhnatka mount in Ile-Alatau national park in Medeu gorge, press-secretary of Almaty Mayor Sergey Kuyanov told Tengrinews.kz. "We are launching a big campaign on Mokhnatka mount so that every Almaty residents can take part. A favorite mount, a favorite place of Almaty residents, needs urgent aide," Yessimov said at the 8th session of Maslikhat on September 14. According to the press-secretary, the problem is that the city cannot allocate any money for restoration of the mount, as it is territorially located in Almaty oblast and is under jurisdiction of Kazakhstan Agriculture Ministry. With this complication in view and since Almaty residents are willing to aid, a decision was made to arrange a charity campaign with Zhana Alatau fund. The exact place of the event will be announced this Monday, Kuyanov said. The campaign is due to start this week. Earlier Almaty Akim applied to Kazakhstan Prime-Minister Karim Massimov with a request to allocate funds for restoration of Medeu after the fires. He pointed out that landslide threat is high because the fire left the slopes bare and it is the main issue in the fall-winter period. The landslide may cause injuries to Almaty residents, tourists and damage local infrastructure. The fire at Mokhnatka mount in Medeu gorge started in the evening of August 22. Fire-quenching operation took several days and involved over 700 people. The total area damaged by fire is 77.6 hectares, including 47.6 hectares of forest. The total damage is estimated at 338 million tenge ($2.3 million).