Bishkek: Over the past 5 years, Bishkek has become recognizable in the world not only for its nature, culture and good people, but also for its ecology. This is evidenced not only by data from various environmental organizations, according to which air quality in the capital of the republic is deteriorating every year, but also by visible changes, such as the dense smog over the city, which can be seen with the naked eye. And it turns out that if during the Soviet Union Frunze was the greenest city, then after many years and almost 30 years of Kyrgyzstan’s independence, Bishkek has become the leader among the cities of the world in the quality of its foul air.
Environmentalists admit that many factors contributed to this. First, it is due to the fact that during the cold season, residents of numerous new buildings on the outskirts of the city heat their houses with coal, which is, according to environmentalists, detrimental not only to the environment, but also to health.
In addition, there are those who heat their houses with tires and other combustible materials, which release even more smoke and soot into the environment. Specialists add enterprises and commercial facilities whose production or heating is in one way or another associated with coal heating.
Another factor which affects the appearance of impenetrable smog over the capital is related to the violation of the “wind rose”.
During the planning of Frunze, now Bishkek, in the Soviet years the winds blowing through the city from the mountains on the southern side of the capital were taken into account. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, and then the loss of appropriate control of the supervisory authorities over construction companies, the city began to grow without taking into account the “wind rose”. Accordingly, if there is no ventilation, the air will stand there.
Another important factor is that the number of vehicles in the city of million is equal to number of its inhabitants. This, according to ecologists, also affects the environment of the city and the air we breathe.
According to scientists, when driving, motor transport not only emits into the atmosphere exhaust fumes, but also fine particles of road surface and car tires fly into the air. It is also worth adding another issue – many vehicles in Bishkek lack of accelerant, which are responsible for cleaning the car emissions from harmful impurities. –PNP
