There are many illegal shacks, shacks, caravans, tarpaulin sheds, and illegally fenced-off areas on the banks of the Ogosta Dam near Montana, Montana Regional Governor Kalin Haitov told BTA during a meeting with representatives of the municipalities of Montana and Berkovitsa and various state institutions related to the dam.
At the meeting, initiated by the Regional Government in Montana and the branch of the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture (IARA) in the city, data on illegal construction and appropriation of individual areas in the basin of the dam were presented. Representatives of the IARA have reported that illegal, stilted buildings on the banks of the “Ogosta“ appear almost every day, with illegal construction becoming especially active in April and May, when fishing is prohibited due to the fish breeding season. Unknown people are leveling with an excavator, pouring concrete foundations, placing fences made of thermal panels, and erecting prefabricated houses near the reservoir. The most preferred area for development is the terrain around the water intake tower in the area near Montana and the area of the Rastnika peninsula, where construction is taking place without a permit and without a plan.
“The representatives of the municipalities of Montana and Berkovitsa were aware of the situation, but those from the Directorate for National Construction Control – DNSK, the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Waters – RIEW, and others, were aware of the problem to a lesser extent. "We have agreed that at the next meeting each of the institutions will come up with a statement on the problem and with joint efforts to start solving it," said the regional governor Kalin Haitov. He pointed out that illegal construction creates problems with preserving the cleanliness of the dam. It prevents amateur fishermen from practicing their hobby by casting fishing rods from the shore, and in the Montana region alone about 7,000 fishing tickets have been issued. In addition to them, approximately the same number of people with regular fishing tickets from other regions of the country fish in the "Ogosta" dam. At the same time, the shore of the dam is occupied by a much smaller number of people who have settled there and have illegally built various places, Haitov commented.