DIVING INTO THE SEA …

The Baku authorities are alarmed by the fact that, although the summer holiday season has set in, Baku's beaches are not ready to welcome holiday-makers. Thermo-meters have been registering +29o C since 10 June, i.e. the beach season, which officially started on 15 May, can be considered open. Some, in fact, started going to the beaches in the middle of spring. They could well be described as real beach worshippers - they continue going to the beach despite the chaos surrounding them. This holds true not only for state beaches, which are traditionally far from ideal. Private beaches are also in quite poor condition, says Ziyaddin Kazimov, head of department at the National Centre of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NCHE).

As the coast, so the water

Some coastal areas and beaches are so littered that they resemble rubbish dumps. And this is not just in summer. Domestic waste is dumped onto beaches even in winter - we notice it in summer because there are more people at the seaside. Refuse bins, garbage cans or even pits are hardly to be seen on state beaches. The situation at private "below-average" beaches is slightly better, but not perfect either. "Expensive" beaches are clean, but the water is the same everywhere - sometime it complies with sanitary norms, sometimes it doesn't. And not everyone can afford to go to fully-equipped coastal areas. "Even the excellent service or nice design of some beaches does not mean that water meets the required standards and does not pose a threat to human health," says Kazimov. Following a Cabinet decision, the housing infrastructure department of the Baku executive authority is now responsible for cleaning beaches. "We conduct raids on every beach in the country and send our reports on their state of sanitation and hygiene to the district executive authorities. Afterwards, the organizations responsible for further action should take the necessary measures," said the specialist. At the same time, people also act according to their own conscience and level of education - some just dump their garbage on the beach, others try to cover it with sand. Half-eaten apples, empty bottles, plastic bags, broken glass, newspapers - aren't these an all too familiar sight at the beach? The level of pollution on beaches is rising every day, the garbage ends up in the water, which eventually leads to a decline in quality. 

Kazimov added that every year, before the opening of the beach season, the centre monitors Azerbaijan's coastal recreation zones, together with the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. "We try to determine how prepared beaches are for the following season. This year the monitoring began in late May. We intended to familiarize ourselves with sanitary and technical conditions and the level of chemical, bacteriological and radiation pollution of the marine environment. It would be premature to make conclusions now, because weather conditions prevented us from completing the job. We could not conduct laboratory analysis of the sea water due to strong winds. However, I hope that preliminary results of the monitoring will be released in late June," he explained. The information to be released will state which beaches are safe to use and which are not. The specialist noted that beaches in the Mardakan-Suvalan area are usually sources of concern. By the end of last year's beach season the Ministry of the Environment indicated an improvement in the situation, linked to the commissioning of new modular treatment facilities.  

Water can be different           

"I think that the level of chemical, bacteriological and radiation pollution of the water will be similar to last year's. The point is that the assessment of the situation at some beaches usually fluctuates between "better" and "relatively good". Last year, for instance, swimming was prohibited on the beaches of Suvalan, Mardakan, Sixov, Sahil (Qaradag district) and on the beaches between Corat and the Haci Zeynalabdin Tagiyev settlement (territory of Sumgayit). The centre's monitoring of beaches in Baku, Sumgayit and Abseron indicated pollution in those areas. A decision to close down the said recreation zones was made due to heavy contamination by sewage and the inefficiency of treatment facilities. Swimming on other beaches was not a cause for concern. Research in the Pirsaga-Pirallahi coastal area showed that the Mayak recreation zone, the Dubandi coastal area, the territory around the Northern power station, the Mardakan zone, the Marina beach area, the area around the Bilgah cardiology sanatorium, as well as the Amburan beach, were quite normal microbiologically. Observations in the Mardakan coastal zone (the Qizil Qum resort) also revealed slight pollution. Thanks to the replacement of the treatment facility near the Buzovna settlement, slight pollution was registered only once in five months of last year, and even then it was caused by strong winds. The number of coliform bacilli on the Qizilnoxur and Sorgel beaches in the Pirsaga area was within limits. The condition of the Nardaran coastal zone is gradually returning to normal. Kazimov did not rule out an improvement in the situation this year. "We are hopeful that, following the decree by President Ilham Aliyev "On measures to protect the Caspian Sea from pollution" the overall statistics will improve slightly due to the construction of local modular treatment facilities. Such facilities have already been installed in the settlements of Bilgah, Buzovna, Mardakan, Pirsaga, Nardaran and on Amburan beach," said the specialist. 

Ziyaddin Kazimov added that besides determining the compliance of the sea water with chemical and bacteriological requirements, the monitoring group exercises control over the actions of private beach owners in order to prevent the discharge of sewage into the sea. Failure to comply leads to specific action involving appeals to law-enforcement agencies and possibly even to closure of the beach. 

Kazimov said with some regret that most beaches are currently in an appalling sanitary condition, due to neglect on the part of local executive authorities. "There are eight major state and private beaches on the Abseron Peninsula. People spend time here, whether on state-owned or private beaches, and the people responsible for them should create all the conditions necessary for people to enjoy themselves," he said. It is worth noting that the executive authorities of the Qaradag and Azizbayov districts, where most beaches are concentrated, have refused to offer a comment on the sanitary and hygienic condition of their beaches. It appears that they have nothing to say. The only reassurance comes from the work of the rescue services of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. There are rescuers on almost all the country's beaches, as well as towers, motorboats and other necessary equipment, including first-aid. However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations says that a 1998 decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, whereby the sale of alcoholic beverages at beaches is forbidden, is not being observed. Meanwhile, people under the influence of alcohol become accident victims. We recall that following the establishment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in 2006 and the transfer to it of rescue services, a decision was made to clear up coastal areas and to establish 40 special water rescue centres on public beaches.