Sat, Nov 07 2009

Controversial cable car to Rila Lakes in operation, eco activists say

Thu, Apr 02 2009 15:10 CET byNick Iliev 2023 Views 3 Comments
Controversial cable car to Rila Lakes in operation, eco activists say

One of the lakes in Rila National Park.

Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer

The new cable car from Pionerska lodge up to Rilski Ezera lodge in the Rila National Park has opened for business, allege eco activists who have reported the matter to prosecutors and called for an immediate halt to operations, Dnevnik daily said.

The environmentalist movement To Sustain Nature in Bulgaria alleges that the facility is illegal and highly dangerous. The movement says that the lift is illegal because it was constructed in a protected national park. And it is dangerous because its lower station was erected on ground prone to landslides, the environmentalist group says.

The new facilities are owned by the municipality of Sapareva Banya and Rila Sport. They are considering setting up a small ski resort near the village of Panichishte.

Currently the procedure is underway to formally and legally approve the newly completed facility. For the task, a special state acceptance commission was set up within which a major role is played by the directive of national construction control.

"In spite of the fact that the procedure for the new cable car is not yet approved, the lift is already ferrying people, amongst them children. The facility has not even passed technical checks yet," the eco activists say.

European institutions will be alerted of the events. Letters have been submitted by the environmentalists to France Rila and the citizens' group, Citizens for Rila.

Comments

Anonymous silvialozeva Mon, Apr 06 2009 12:12 CET
Inappropriate comment?

I have never heart of any other case like that. what would dunov say?

Anonymous sonia Fri, Apr 03 2009 15:29 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Anonymous sonia Fri, Apr 03 2009 15:29 CET
Inappropriate comment?

"retrospective planning approval" is a marvellous invention....

Anonymous mbkirova Fri, Apr 03 2009 14:12 CET
Inappropriate comment?

Go get 'em Clive, this is obscene.

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment
EC approved all Government-proposed habitat zones, Rila buffer excluded

The habitats committee of the European Commission (EC) has approved all the habitat zones that figure on Bulgaria's Natura 2000 list, as proposed by the Government, the Environment Ministry wrote on its website on October 28. Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union.

PM Sergei Stanishev opens road to illegal ski zone in Rila Mountain

On September 17, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev will open the repaired section of the road from the southwestern city of Blagoevgrad to the Rila Mountain area of Bodrost. He will also visit the ski resort Bodrost-Kartala that is under construction near where a devastating fire surged in Rila National Park for eight days. The coalition To Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria (SNB) sent a letter to

No protected species affected by the fire in Rila National Park

No protected species were affected by the eight-day fire in Rila National Park, Rila park management said, as quoted by Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik on September 11. The flare-up that started on September 3 was finally extinguished by the rain that began on September 13. The fire affected mainly dry grassy plants, and only separated patches of pine trees burned, Rila National Park

Second landfill on fire eight days after Rila National Park started burning

The landfill in the village of Buchino near the south-western city of Blagoevgrad started burning on September 10. On September 11 the cause of the fire was still unclear. The fire has now been extinguished but several people still take shifts at the landfill, private broadcaster bTV reported. Plovdiv landfill Tsalapitsa fire is under control but several fires are continuing to smoulder. The wind is fanning the fire and

Two Spanish aircraft join the fire fight in Rila

The Spanish government has joined in the efforts to fight the fire that has been burning since September 3 in Rila National Park by sending two Canadair aircraft on September 9. They joined the two French airtankers on September 10, and have been dumping water over the fire on the side of Rila Mountain near Samokov, which started burning on September 7. The Spanish team consists of 11 people. Until noon on

French aircraft fighting the fire in Rila national park

France sent two Canadair aircraft to help Bulgaria's Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) fight the fire in Rila national park, which has been burning for the past five days. The aircraft will use water from the Iskur dam. The cause of the fire is as yet unknown, but MES believes it to have been caused by a lightning strike. According to Bulgarian environmentalists, the fire is intentional, as it started and is

Rila National Park is burning

The cause and the size of the forest fire that started on September 3 in Rila National Park are still not clear, Rossen Popsavov from the State Forestry Agency told a news conference on September 5. Sofia spokespersons from the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) could not confirm when the fire first erupted. The Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs (MOEW) said in a media statement that the fire

Young rocking rock in Rila

For a six year running, the Rila Mountain would be shaken by the Rock in Rila fest on August 30. As usual, the event will take place in the village of Beli Iskur, near the mountain resort of Borovets. It will all begin at 6pm. This year, the fest is dedicated to the young and unknown Bulgarian bands, which are to be promoted to a broader audience. Some of the bands to take part in the forum are Реванш

More in this category

Bulgaria to outline renewable energy zones

Bulgaria’s Environment Ministry will develop a strategy to designate areas that can host clean energy projects with no environmental impact, Environment Minister Nona Karadjova said.

EU countries agree on carbon emissions deal

The nine Eastern European member states of the EU agree on compromise ahead of the Copenhagen talks on climate change.

Fewer than 50 hybrid vehicles sold in Bulgaria

The Government was still not offering incentives for vehicles driven by two or more distinct power sources.

Stray dogs problem in Sofia will be resolved with shelters in 2011, official says

Blame for the little girl's death in Sushevo lies not with the dogs but with the institutions who let it happen, Four Paws foundation says

In vitro procedures will be funded by the state, PM says

The Government will allocate 8.2 million leva by the end of 2009 while in 2010 in vitro procedures will cost 24 million leva

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.