“There is no systematic understanding that would link the statistics of disease and air pollution. Unfortunately, we were never able to get data from the health department so that we could somehow compare data on air pollution and diseases. How can you draw conclusions?” said Khalitov in an interview with journalist Aset Matayev.
Matayev asked whether the ecologist agreed with the selection of the dirtiest areas of Almaty, published by one of the universities. The sample included Agerim-2, Akbulak, Shanyrak-1 and 5, Halyk-Arena and the village of Otegen Batyr.
“I agree that the lower part of the city is dirtier. Again, this is due to the movement of air masses, polluting enterprises. I know that Kazferrostal has an enterprise, it is located in the city, it is a metallurgical enterprise. But, again, when these kinds of things come out, they are not based on entirely accurate data, there is not quite enough of them to draw clear conclusions. This also applies to scientific research, we do not have normal scientific research, they are not systematic,” he said.
Photo source: picture from an open source