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
2008. 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