Ravil Kuzyurov spoke at a briefing in the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan about the measures being taken to prevent the occurrence of forest fires
Today, a briefing was held in the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan with the participation of the Minister of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan Ravil Kuzyurov and the Minister for Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of the Republic of Tatarstan - the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Republic of Tatarstan Rafis Khabibullin. At it, Minister Ravil Kuzyurov spoke about the current forest fire situation in the Republic of Tatarstan, measures being taken to prevent the occurrence of forest fires and priority tasks for the coming period.
“Despite the approach of autumn, hot and dry weather persists in the Republic of Tatarstan, fire hazard classes IV and V are recorded in the forests,” said Ravil Kuzyurov. “In this regard, the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan initiated the introduction of the second this year restrictions on the stay of citizens in the forests, which is currently in effect. Restrictions are set from August 9 to 21 calendar days in relation to forests located on the lands of the forest fund of the republic.”
According to him, as of August 16 of this year, 407 thermal points and 281 cases of fires were registered in the Republic of Tatarstan in the territories bordering the forest fund, on a total area of 8.6 hectares. “Forest fires were not recorded in 2022,” the minister said. “Fire safety in the forest is provided by 20 forest fire stations of type II, 5 forest fire stations of type III and 14 points of concentration of fire-fighting equipment.”
At present, space, aviation and ground-based monitoring of the fire hazard situation is being carried out in Tatarstan, agitation and explanatory work is being carried out among the population on compliance with fire safety rules in forests, and the regional dispatch service of the State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Tatarstan “Forest Fire Center” is also working around the clock. A total of 36 air patrols were conducted with a total duration of 203 flight hours.
A set of measures is also being implemented for the fire-fighting arrangement of forests - 2395 km of new mineralized fire-prevention strips have been created and the existing mineralized strips with a total length of 4807 km have been cared for. In addition, work was carried out on the construction and reconstruction of fire roads with a total length of 377 km, the improvement of recreation areas for citizens staying in forests in the amount of 225 pieces was carried out, and information stands, notice boards and billboards on fire prevention topics were installed in the amount of 794 pieces.
“I would like to remind you that in accordance with Federal Law No. 141-FZ of May 28, 2022 “On Amendments to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses”, liability for violating fire safety rules in forests has been tightened this year,” added Ravil Kuzyurov. “If the violation resulted in the outbreak of a forest fire and damage was caused to forests, the deed may entail criminal liability under Article 261 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.”
So, now the violation of fire safety rules in the forests entails the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of 15 to 30 thousand rubles (instead of the previously provided from 1.5 to 3 thousand rubles), on officials - from 30 to 50 thousand rubles (previously - from 10 to 20 thousand rubles), for legal entities - from 100 to 400 thousand rubles (previously - from 50 to 200 thousand rubles).
After that, Ravil Kuzyurov answered questions from the media representatives, in particular, about the work of the Information System for Remote Monitoring of the Federal Forestry Agency, interaction with the forestry authorities of neighboring regions, etc.