As promised, I’m writing about the next chapter in our road war with the administration of Kirov. Let me remind you that we declared it in response to the fact that the city hall actually sent a special administrative inspector to issue a fine over the chalk graffiti "Putin is a thief" on the pavement, while at the same time showing complete tolerance toward the potholes in the roadway that have become one of Kirov’s trademark features. You could practically put them on the city’s coat of arms. Exactly as planned, the activists went out to inspect the potholes that had been the subject of the previous complaints.
The potholes are enormous, violate every allowable GOST standard (state technical standards), pose a threat to traffic, and should be repaired as quickly as possible. Well, that’s how it works under the law, and in places where conscientious city authorities actually carry out their direct responsibilities. But where the top priority is fighting politically unreliable chalk slogans, things are much worse. Do you recognize these three manholes?
The very same spot as in the photo above. Absolutely no response. What should law-abiding citizens do in such an outrageous situation, when an administrative offense is plainly being committed? Of course, they should take steps to have the violation officially recorded, hold those responsible accountable, and put an end to this disgrace. And here again are our three manholes.
Only this time with traffic police officers in the background, whom we called in to file an official report. We called the GIBDD (Russia’s traffic police), and they drew up reports for all the potholes we complained about last time.
And for each road surface violation, a report like this was drawn up:
and an order was issued to the Kirov city administration:
If the order is not complied with within ten days, city hall officials will be fined. But really, they should be fined even sooner, and we will insist that the ten-day period be counted from the moment the first complaints were filed. In addition, RosYama is preparing a lawsuit against the Kirov city administration to have its inaction and evasion of its duties declared unlawful, in case they continue sitting around and doing nothing. We have also launched a small campaign in Kirov Region codenamed "Total Control," under which activists are documenting new road surface violations through RosYama (examples one, two, and three) will inspect roads that have on paper supposedly just undergone major repairs. We’ll see what exactly they repaired there—and whether they repaired anything at all. There is good reason to doubt it, given that they arrange major road repair contracts so cleverly that it is impossible to determine the addresses where this repair work was supposedly done. That’s the interim report on the work done so far. I’ll keep you updated on the progress of hostilities. While I’m at it, I want to send my sincere thanks to everyone who took part in the campaign, and especially to the activists of the "Narodny Alliance": Nikolai Lyaskin and Vitaly Bramm, as well as RosPil staff members Lyubov Sobol and Yana Vlasenko. And let me remind everyone that pulling off the same kind of thing in your own hometown is not just possible—it’s very easy. The weather is nice, and it’s pleasant to walk the streets. This activity is entirely lawful, constructive, and supported by everyone (well, except those skimming money off the roads). We are always ready to help with advice and informational support.
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