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Tengrinews.kz – Residents of various districts in Алматы awoke on the morning of 30 October to a strong smell of burning and scorched plastic, reports the city’s media citing the local meteorological service.
Complaints about the unpleasant odour have come from almost all parts of the city — both in the centre and on the outskirts. Social-media posts include:
“We woke up, there’s some unbearable smell in the house. It seems to be coming from outside. I think it’s time to create an eco-police and introduce strict measures for environmental crimes. Otherwise Almaty will become uninhabitable.”
“We woke up from the heat indoors, opened the windows, and the smell of burning entered the apartment. We thought neighbouring flats might be on fire. Koktem district. I saw many others complaining about the smell of burning. What could it be?”
“What is this awful smell in Vesnovka – Karasai Batyr area. I woke up from the smell of smoke, my nose stings from the bitterness.”
“It reeks of burning from the street, I’m dying from a headache.”
Dozens of similar messages have been posted.
According to Kazhydromet, the meteorological conditions overnight into 31 October will favour the accumulation of pollutants in the city’s atmosphere, and a high level of air pollution is expected.
On 29 October, the air in the city was far from ideal: the level of nitrogen dioxide exceeded the standard by 1.5 times, particulate matter PM2.5 exceeded by 1.2 times, and exceedances were also recorded for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and PM10 particles.
Staff from the Almaty Department of Ecology and the Emergency Situations Department (DSChS) were contacted for comments. The Emergency Department noted that no large fires were recorded in the city overnight. They did record three minor fires of waste: a garbage container fire in Auezov district, and two open-area rubbish fires in Almalinsky district (areas of 0.1 and 0.5 square metres).
This suggests the smell may be related to poor air dispersal conditions, pollution accumulation and possibly smouldering waste fires — rather than a large visible blaze.
