MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2021) Only 5% out of the 7,000 vessel owners at Lake Baikal fulfill their obligations under contracts for waste disposal, while others dump it into the lake, Svetlana Radionova, the head of Russian environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, told Sputnik on Friday.
"There are 7,000 small vessels at Baikal. Where do they discharge fuel and waste? There is only one drop-off facility, there are no others. According to what our service can see, only 10% of shipowners have concluded contracts for the delivery of waste. Of these, only half have fulfilled these contracts," Radionova said.
At Baikal, as at other ports, there should be a single operator to gather the waste from ships, she said, adding that no ship should go on a voyage without a waste disposal agreement.
Lake Baikal � the world's largest freshwater body � is a long-standing symbol of Russia and a popular destination in domestic tourism.
