14 October 2008, 15:03
Protests held in the capital of Dagestan against electricity breaks
On October 13, in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, city residents twice blocked the traffic in the Ahmet-Khan Sultan Avenue demanding to resume electricity supply to their houses.
The last protest action took place yesterday at about 11 p.m. More than a hundred residents of the Novy Kyakhulay settlement, which is a district of Makhachkala, during an hour kept the blockage of the carriageway of the Ahmet-Khan Sultan Avenue, which is the highway connecting Makhachkala with the "Kavkaz" Federal Motorway.
The protesters demanded to make electricity supply to their houses uninterrupted, since for a number of days already it is absent during a greater part of the day.
After negotiations with representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, the participants of the action have agreed to go home, however, they promised to block the road again should the electricity supplies are not resumed.
Yesterday, about 10 a.m. the same Ahmet-Khan Sultan Avenue was blocked by residents of another settlement - Tarki, who also suffer from frequent electricity cuts.
The gaps in electricity supplies to houses of residents in Makhachkala suburban settlements began after an accident on October 6 at substation "South-Eastern" located in the industrial zone of Makhachkala.
Despite assurances of the managers of the OJSC "MRSK of Northern Caucasus" and "Dagenergo" Company who had planned to "completely restore electricity supplies to consumers broken because of the accident at the substation by 9:00 p.m. on October 7," thousands of residents of Makhachkala continue to live without electricity.
Author: Timur Isayev, CK correspondent