Residents of two Dagestani villages claim their rights to use water spring

A spring, which provoked a conflict between villagers of Chuni and Tsukhta in the Levashi District of Dagestan, is located in the territory of the Chuni village, and therefore, it should be used for the needs of its residents. This opinion was voiced by Talkhat Khaibulaev, the head of the Chuni village. Abdulkhalik Abdulkhalikov, the head of the Tsukhta village, believes that the cadastral services have made a mistake when drawing up the borders and the spring is located on the border of two villages.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a fight between residents of the Chuni and Tsukhta villages occurred on August 4. Policemen had to shoot into the air to calm the people.

According to the head of the village, the spring is used by people since the middle of the last century. Then, the excess water was directed to the village of Tsukhta. However, in 2008, the district administration allocated funds for the construction of a water pipeline, and the spring "was rearranged and almost all the water began to go only to the village of Tsukhta."

Talkhat Khaibulaev has noted that after that, conflicts began to occur between residents of the two villages.

He has also reported that the spring borders were approved by the People's Assembly of Dagestan.

According to the head of the Tsukhta village, the spring inside the reservoir is divided to direct third part of the water to the Chuni village, and two-thirds to the Tsukhta village.

He has also announced his intention to involve religious figures in order to prevent conflicts.

According to the district administration, the problems of the two villages are being resolved with involvement of Magomed Kamilov, an authorized representative of the republic's leader in the mountainous territorial district.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.