site.btaNGOs Blame Environment Ministry for Bad State of Seven Rila Lakes, Law Violations

112 ENVIRONMENT - LAKES - RILA - VIOLATION - NGOs

NGOs Blame Environment
Ministry for Bad State of
Seven Rila Lakes, Law Violations


Sofia, August 14 (BTA) - For the Nature coalition of environmental organizations blames the Environment and Water Ministry for the illegal entry of a group of dancing people in one of the protected Seven Rila Lakes and for the violation of the Rila National Park Management Plan.

On August 11, the Our Home is Bulgaria foundation tried to set a Guinness world record for the longest horo [chain dance] in Rila mountain, and some of the participants went into the water of the Bliznaka lake. On August 12, the Environment Ministry said the Rila National Park Department launches a procedure for imposing fines for violation of the protected territory's regimes. Under the Protected Territories Act, the fine for a legal person is between 1,000 and 10,000 leva and for a natural person, between 5 and 5,000 leva.

According to For the Nature, the Environment and Water Ministry and its units did not check whether the planned making of a film on the horo dance conforms with the regimes of the protected territories in Rila. Consequently, a mass event with 300 participants was authorized in violation of the Rila National Park Management Plan, resulting in a large group of people entering the Bliznaka lake.

The coalition's position reads further that the problems at the Seven Rila Lakes began with the idea for a Panichishte-Ezerata-Kabul Peak skiing complex. According to the NGOs, the Seven Rila Lakes silt up as a result of the erosion of tourist paths and polluted groundwater. The lakes' unique fauna is threatened, therefore For the Nature insists that such mass events violating the Rila National Park Management Plan not be allowed anymore on the territory of the Seven Rila Lakes.

The environmentalists also insist on regular checks to determine whether the transportation of people to the Seven Rila Lakes conforms with the environmental, transport and tax legislation. They call for an end to the regular violation of the law and the use of jeeps for the transportation of tourists.

The NGOs propose the placement of wooden paths along the most eroded sections of the route to the Seven Rila Lakes and other innovative solutions for reducing the erosion, as well as regulation of the tourist flow in the area of the lakes with a maximum number of tourists allowed per day.

LN/DS
/ДЛ/