Dagestani villagers achieve suspension of demolition of their houses (+video)

Local authorities have managed to agree with court marshals about the temporary suspension of the court decision to demolish 19 houses built near the federal gas pipeline in the village of Novaya Shangoda-Shitlib.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 19 a protest rally was held in the village of Novaya Shangoda-Shitlib with a demand to cancel the decision to demolish the houses.

The villagers' protest action lasted for more than eight hours. They dispersed only after the machinery and vehicles of law enforcers and builders left the village, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who was present at the rally, has reported.

The villagers said that they would not allow demolishing their houses, which, according to their version, had been built legally. The 19 houses intended for demolition are inhabited by about 300 people; all of them state that they have no other housing; and if their houses are demolished, they will find themselves in the street. No compensations or alternatives were offered to them.

Villagers told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in 2013, the "Gazprom" went to court demanding to demolish the houses, built in the protection zone of the main gas pipeline.

"We have been living here since 1935, after we were forcibly resettled here from the Gunib District. The fact is that our houses had been here well before the construction of the gas pipeline, which was laid in the 1980s. Nobody asked us when they laid the pipe," Aishat Bashirova, a resident of Novaya Shangoda-Shitlib, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to her story, the Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan has supported them and rejected the claim of "Gazprom", demanding to demolish the houses, but the SC's decision was appealed against and cancelled.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.