The ancient lake Šventežeris in the fisherman’s paradise in the Lazdijai district turns into an inaccessible smelly bale

This is confirmed by the residents who applied to the editorial office. Not only the fishermen, but also the environmentalists are alarmed. Only the local authorities are calm. According to them, the lakes, the times and the habits of the people themselves are changing.

Population: The coast has become an inaccessible area

“The flowing lake has turned into a stinking bundle, overgrown shores. Private ponds dug into the shore are filled with lake water, causing the water level in the lake to drop. The streams and drainage ditches that flow from the lake are dammed, the water does not leak out, but it still stinks. There were no swimming areas or places to fish when the boat was let in. What’s more, there are no places left to access the water through private plots, as not all owners agree to allow walking in their own area. They say go fishing, and how do you get there when the shores are private, the stakes are barely nailed? Flying to get to the so-called lake protection zone? We are proud to be a tourist area, a fisherman’s paradise, and in reality the Lazdijai region is becoming a preserve for wealthy visitors, with only fences and private resorts, ”the callers indignantly expressed.

According to the applicants, not only locals are included, but also people from other districts who like to come to the Lazdijai region to fish, and as a reserve paradise. “

Elder: No one complained

Meanwhile, Aldona Burbienė, the old woman from the Šventežeris nursing home, who, incidentally, lives on the shore of Lake Šventežeris, says that there is no problem and that she has never heard any complaints from the residents.

“There have never been complaints, it is strange that he has approached you here. Nobody blocked the streams of that lake, and the ponds were dug in the Soviet era, now they are private, people are ordering, their environment is recovering; you may not have to be angry if you don’t. that anyone wants to come and stay on their private shores. And when it comes to the lake swamp, I think it is a natural process, on the other hand, that stream passes near my plot, I can only say that not only is it not blocked but it cascades from the lake to ditches and streams . It is strange to me that someone is complaining, because we have not received any complaints in the body of elders, ”said A. Burbienė, the elder from Šventežeris.

Environment: We constantly receive complaints

Evaldas Brusokas, the head of the Druskininkai Environmental Agency under the Ministry of the Environment, which also oversees the territory of the Lazdijai district municipality, a member of the Lazdijai district municipal council, speaks in a completely different way than A. Burbienė, the old man from Šventežeris.

According to the ecologist, “We constantly receive complaints about Lake Šventežeris, we are going to check it several times a year.”

However, according to the environmentalist, the violations could not be immediately detected. Why?

“That legislation. For a person, private property guarantees their inviolability. We do not measure the lands when the limits go to the lake itself. It is as if there was a protective tape of five meters, but in reality a person shows on a paper that their belongings They are almost in the water. And his will – will allow him to walk on his land or will not allow it “, – does not hide the head of the agency E. Brusokas.

He acknowledges that private ponds connect to the lake and use the lake’s water for their resources, but says environmentalists can’t punish anything for it and that the water is enough for everyone this year.

Speaking of flooded bathing areas and brush-covered lakes, E. Brusokas says that “a similar situation occurs everywhere.”

“Where private property is mostly arranged, but, as a general rule, it is blocked or warning signs are posted that prohibit access. We drive, we check, but the laws are as they are and we cannot detect violations,” says the owner from the environmental agency.

The environmentalist stated that there are “very few public beaches in the Lazdijai district, one by one on the Dusia, Seirija, Baltajas and Metelis lakes.”

“This is a problem, because we have actually registered complaints that landowners have not been allowed access to bodies of water, forest owners have not been allowed to go through forest roads and other cases where they have not been allowed. assured the public interest, “E Said Brusokas.

Asked who in that case has to protect and ensure that public interest, the environmentalist and member of the Municipal Council of the Lazdijai District, E. Brusokas said that “as you know, the state protects private property.”

Municipality: The situation is worrying

Valdas Petras Mikelionis, deputy mayor of the district municipality of Lazdijai, chairman of the City Council’s Economic and Territorial Planning Commission, was surprised that “people’s complaints do not reach the municipality, but rather the journalists.”

“To put it mildly, it is strange that people do not go to the elderly with complaints, because I learn about the situation in Šventežeris from journalists,” says the deputy mayor of the Lazdijai district.

Responding that journalists have evidence that residents have applied not only to the nursing home, but also to the Ministry of the Environment and its institutions, and have been doing so for several years, Vice President Mikelionis agreed: He may have requested it , but we, as municipal leaders, are not aware of it. “

The politician stated that “in general, the situation is worrying” because “ecological agritourism is a strategic area of ​​activity of the Lazdijai district municipality.”

“I will start a commission of municipal specialists to evaluate the situation,” promised the deputy mayor.

Fishermen: all of Lithuania is right above the reserve

Gintaras Gražulevičius from Lazdijai, who calls himself a hard-working fisherman, says that “Lithuania is turning into a reservoir where fences and barriers sink the kilogram crossings of Lake Šventežeris.”

The man claims that in the past, regiments of amateur fishermen from all over Lithuania came to Šventežeris to fish.

“It just came to our knowledge then. Wow, it was definitely a fisherman’s paradise back then. And then they distributed the lakes, gathered the wealthy townspeople, bought the lakes, built the palace, fenced off the fences, and we, ordinary villagers, we keep their fishing rods in their own baths, “says G. Graulius from Lazdijai region and throughout Lithuania.