Karachay - a lake that is famous for its mystery; It is often called a terrible pond. It spread over 130 thousand meters. Unfortunately, now it does not exist. On November 26, 2015, the last square meter of the area occupied by this lake was covered.
The destruction of the lake
What made the government allocate about 17 billion rubles and soullessly fill the unique Karachay lake in the Chelyabinsk region with sand? It's all about the Mayak plant, which is located in nearby territory. This plant at one time did forced, but extremely thoughtless actions. Workers threw all liquid radioactive waste into this very lake, thereby increasing the level of radiation throughout the territory. And soon a misfortune happened. Karachay Lake (Russia) began to grind, the water level decreased due to evaporation. And along with it, the waste also evaporated: the wind carried the vapors of radioactive gases, thereby three areas - Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen - were in great danger. The authorities decided to pour concrete over the entire area of the lake in order to protect other territories from radioactive vapors.
Name of the reservoir
Karachay is a lake, a detailed study of the history of which reveals an interesting fact related to the name of this reservoir. The fact is that initially it bore a completely different name - Karagaisas. This is known according to the data of 1790, according to the document on land surveying. In fact, the lake was so shallow that it dried out several times and was not even indicated on the map - topographers simply did not notice this reservoir and did not enter any data about it. A curious fact: on the maps of 1936, the territory of Karachai was marked as swamp. It is assumed that its depth did not even reach two meters. The name Karachay has come down to the present, apparently, as a result of censuses and land surveys, the name Karagaisas has changed to a more sonorous and easier to remember.
The solution that destroyed the lake
Hard times for the lake came in 1951. It was then that a certain Slavsky announced the idea of using the reservoir as a place for the release of radioactive waste. The idea was supported. Karachay is a lake that literally six months later became the main reservoir used to remove liquid radioactive waste. It is expected that soon it became a dangerous place not only in the Chelyabinsk region, but also in the world. For the entire time that Karachai was used for the above purpose, about one hundred and twenty million curies (an off-system unit of activity measurement) accumulated in the lake, which is a huge excess of the norm and poses a real danger to humans.
Location
If we talk more about where Karachay Lake is, it is known that it occupies the territory in the central part of the plexus of the lakes Ulagach, Tatysh, Malaya Nanoga, Kyzyltash in the Chelyabinsk region. Also nearby is the Michelyak River. And everything seems to be fine, but the lake ruined the location of the Mayak plant on its territory, from where the releases of radioactive substances took place.
Extinction of the animal world
According to some reports, the radioactive lake Karachay was the place of residence of ducks. So say the locals who hunted there once. It was also possible to catch small fish there. Unfortunately, after the release of liquid hazardous substances from the plant, all living things died. At the moment, a person who has stood for five minutes in the territory of Karachai will begin to experience severe nausea and poisoning, but if he stays there for an hour, even an ambulance will not save him from death.
The main problem of the lake
Karachay is a lake (photo above), which had many problems. For several years (1961-1964), the reservoir had a lowered water level, which entailed exposure of the bottom in some areas. In 1961, a very strong wind rose in the territory. The radioactive substances that accumulated in the pond began to evaporate with the water. It is because of this that the poisonous fumes spread over vast distances. As a result, not only the nature of the area was affected, but also people - according to some reports, about five hundred thousand people were poisoned. After this incident, the authorities decided to completely eliminate the lake, fill it up to the state of a green lawn. We started this process in 1986. Even then, the chalked areas of the reservoir were liquidated in a short time. In the 1980s, when the climatic conditions in the area changed dramatically, the water level began to rise sharply. In this regard, all work was stopped. The state began to carry out a number of processes that affected the lake and artificially lowered its water level. On November 26, 2015, it was announced that conservation work was completed. Now this place is a territory covered with rocky massifs and concrete blocks.
Ural Hiroshima
Of course, there are no tourists arriving on this lake. Journalists from a well-known British newspaper recently stated that Karachay is the most dangerous place on the planet. And although now the area of the entire reservoir is tightly covered with concrete, it really remains dangerous due to the large proportion of radiation in the air. Now this territory is called the “Ural Hiroshima” or “Chelyabinsk Chernobyl”. By the way, housing is sold there at a pretty attractive price, but you can live in it, alas, not for long.
By the example of Lake Karachay, one can understand how a person sometimes, due to his thoughtless behavior, adversely affects nature and destroys what could benefit him. It is unfortunate that such a large territory is affected and will cease to be dangerous only after centuries.