Egorov Kirill Heat & Power Faculty group 6292

As most people would know that about three years ago the river Ushaika that connected centuries was like a dump. The old legend of a beauty Tom and her sweetheart Ushay that was born by the creative work of the people seemed to be buried under the industrial wastes in the middle of the 20th century. In spite of the fact that the valley of the river was the zone of protected nature, the citizens of the town cultivated land on its banks, built houses there and poured industrial wastes into the river. Sewage waters were also thrown to the river.

It is difficult to believe that the river was used to carry cargoes in the 19th century and in 1960s it was a favourite place of the rest and entertainment for grown-ups and children: they lay in the sun, swam and fished here. And it is still difficult to believe that it is possible to restore the river to life because we consider it to be the dirtiest river in Tomsk region and often we call it a "stinking river". This nickname is not only the result of our “folklore”, but it is also the result of people’s activity. That is why the river had a category 4 pollution rating, and it flooded Stepanovka and Vostochny and in the coldest winters you could see steam over it.

Pity but it is a reality in which we lived before Within the project "Big city" the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Protection suggested that the river Ushaika should be cleaned. The Governor approved this idea and tried to work out the conception of some measures not only to restore the river to a normal state but to keep up the achieved results.

The City Department, the Municipality, some Tomsk organizations and citizens responded to it. It was very important not only to eliminate dumps and sewage, but to organize the right system of centralized garbage removal. The Governor raised the problem facing the people on the river. They must protect it, take care of its cleanliness, and if somebody pollutes the river, it is necessary to inform the Department of Natural Resources. And we should recognize that many residents of Tomsk took an active part in the action.

A lot of money was spent on carrying out this project and it would be pity if all the works were in vain and all the money was thrown out. Our duty is to show our civil consciousness. If you want to live in a comfortable city you have to make it like that and keep this achievement going. Otherwise in 5-7 years we’ll find ourselves on the banks of the “stinking river" again.

The river Ushaika "responded" to the care unexpectedly fast. Last year the quality of water improved so that it became possible to release fish into the river. On the 14th of October the Governor Victor Kress and the Regional Department of Natural Resources organized an ecological action and released almost 40,000 young silver crucian into the water, about 3,000 young perch and about 2,000 carp. For a trial Victor Kress let the beautiful sterlet go into the river, saying “Let it command!"

This action became the final stage of the cleaning and deepening the Ushaika but the project is supposed to have the second stage, it’s the improvement of the valley of the river. We all hope everything will go smoothly! Take care of our nature!

Thank you for your attention