“Gavigudet” recommendations on the Action Plan for the Improvement of Air Quality in Rustavi

2020-2022 Action Plan for the Improvement of Air Quality in Rustavi is a sectoral policy document, which aims to improve the ambient air quality in Rustavi.

The civil movement “Gavigudet” was involved in the development of the Action Plan and continuously monitors its implementation. Hence, we periodically prepared and shared with the public short reports on the performance of activities, defined in the action plan. As of today, you can find the following three reports about the Action Plan on our website: “What does the Action Plan for the Improvement of Air Quality in Rustavi imply and how is it implemented?”, “2021 Report on the Air Quality Improvement Action Plan”, “2022 Interim Report on the Action Plan for the Improvement of Air Quality in Rustavi: Evaluation by “Gavigudet”.

According to the interim data for 2022, 33% of the activities are fully implemented, 53% – are mostly implemented and 13% – are partially implemented. We hope, 100% of the activities will be fully implemented by the end of the year so that we will be able to set much more ambitious tasks for the following action plan, which will be developed not only within Rustavi but within the framework for improving the air quality in the Central Zone. However, experience during these years revealed that, there are a number of issues, that need to be addressed; and we believe the plan will be more effective if these issues are solved. Our team has repeatedly voiced these recommendations in various ways during these two years, and this time, we share them in a structured form:

1. The involvement of the population should be increased in both – the development and implementation stages of the action plan.

In order, the action plan to be truly effective, it is crucial to increase the accountability to citizens and get them involved in the process. Despite the fact, that “Gavigudet” is part of the working group, even for us it is sometimes problematic to receive interim and annual reports on the action plan on time. Periodic meetings with the civic society would be helpful to evaluate the progress and challenges, discover any existing problems and take timely action to fix them.

2. The activities, specified in the action plan, should be performed on time.

Depending on the severity of the issue, it is crucial, the activities to be implemented according to the plan-schedule. Unfortunately, most of the activities, are completed late. For example, out of the activities, planned for 2021, only 3 were implemented on time. In the existing conditions, when 130 000 inhabitants of the city breathe bad or very bad quality air, we can not allow not to complete planned activities in a timely manner.

3. The focus should increase on prevention instead of mitigation

Most of the activities in the action plan is focused on mitigation and not on the prevention.

The action plan consists of the 5 tasks:

Task 1.1 – Reduction of air pollution with the hazardous substances emitted from stationary sources;

Task 1.2 – Reduction of emissions from vehicles in Rustavi

Task 1.3 – Improving the green infrastructure in Rustavi

Task 1.4 – Improvement of the air quality assessment system in Rustavi

Task 1.5 – Raising environmental awareness and increasing the number of people involved in environmental activities.

4. The number of unscheduled inspections should increase.

When the issue goes about enforcing the legislation effectively, we should mention one of the demands of our protest action, held on June 5, 2022. Despite the fact, that the number of inspections is increasing time after time, most of these inspections are scheduled, so it does not reflect the real image. Our team carries out monitoring visits in the industrial zone weekly, so we can surely say, in most of cases violations are visible even with the non-equipped eye. The industrial zone of Rustavi is not of such a scale, not to be possible to inspect it on a daily basis, especially since the 5 inspectors were added to the Kvemo Kartli division of the Department of Environmental Supervision.

5. The load norms for the city should be set

The number of new enterprises is increasing annually and the existing ones often increase their performance. In order for the city population to really feel relief after installing filters and self-monitoring, it is necessary to establish a load norm to more strictly control both the issue of increasing the performance of existing enterprises as well as adding new facilities.

6. The roads in the industrial area should be arranged.

The roads in the industrial area are a great source of dust. Thus, it is crucial to address this problem along with re-equipping the enterprises.

7. The problem of intercity transportation should be addressed

We voiced this issue several times within the framework of the working group. Transportation is a great problem every day for about 25,000 people traveling to Tbilisi and back. Therefore, a lot of people plan to purchase private cars; and this will increase the emissions from the vehicles.

According to the Ministry’s order (#2-812) on October 31, 2022 “Gavigudet” is part of working group within improving the air quality in the Central Zone. We hope we will have the opportunity to get involved in developing the new plan and, hence, defend the rights of Rustavi citizens.

The informational material is prepared within the framework of the project “Defending Our Right to Clean Air in Rustavi” which is implemented with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy.