Makhachkala residents criticized officials for the long-standing problem of fires at the landfill.

Smoke from the burning landfill near Makhachkala is spreading to the city and neighboring villages, whose residents are suffering from the acrid smell, a local resident complained on social media. Other residents, commenting on his complaint, reported smoke in Talgi, Stary Agachul, and Khushet, and they also criticized officials for the long-standing lack of a solution to the landfill problem.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on November 27, 2025, residents of Makhachkala and Kaspiysk complained about smoke and burning, which they associated with burning landfills. The Ministry of Natural Resources of Dagestan and the Central Dispatch Service stated after checking that no fires at landfills were detected, while Rospotrebnadzor reported no exceedance of permissible concentrations of pollutants in air samples. In August 2024, residents also complained about a fire at an unauthorized landfill in the Cherekes-Kutan area and smoke reaching Kaspiysk.

One of the residents of Makhachkala demanded a response from the authorities regarding the landfill problem. A fire has occurred again at the landfill, and smoke is spreading to the surroundings, affecting the city and nearby villages, he noted. The complaint of the Makhachkala resident was published on October 10 by the Instagram*-public tut_mahachkala.

"An appeal to the leadership of the Republic of Dagestan and the administration of Makhachkala: has it really taken so many years to solve this problem? How much longer must people suffer from constant fires at the landfill and choke on acrid smoke?" – the publication states.

This post in the Instagram*-public tut_mahachkala, which has about 341 thousand followers, had received 716 likes and 80 comments by 11:50 Moscow time on October 11.

Residents of Makhachkala and nearby villages confirmed in the comments that smoke is spreading to nearby settlements. "Mostly this smoke is going towards Agachul and Talgi," wrote bella940384.

"The whole Stary Agachul is in smoke. It is impossible to breathe," complained laser_shugaring_vosk.

"We in Khushet cannot stand this smell, how do people breathe up there?" – noted mirzaeva6922.

Other commentators criticized officials. "All those who did not build waste recycling plants are sitting in our government next to the chairman and the head. And they will continue to sit. The question is to the current government, which does nothing but hold meetings. It solves no problems. And for some reason, everyone praises them. It's even surprising," wrote user mka4.

"How long can we be poisoned, where are the officials, the deputies, is there even a Minister of Ecology in our republic?" – exclaimed murad_91_05.

"As long as there is no accountability for those responsible," pointed out dzhon8980.

Some commentators suggested moving from landfilling and burning waste to recycling. "We need to sort and recycle waste like in Europe, not take it to the landfill," suggested maximkatall.

"Is waste always burned, or do we do something? For example, recycle?" – asked kuhl_arab.

As of 11:50 Moscow time on October 11, there were no comments on the websites of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Dagestan and the administration of Makhachkala regarding residents' complaints about smoke from the landfill.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that residents of Dagestan periodically complain about fires and smoke from landfills. For example, on August 3, residents of the Kaytagsky district complained about a fire at an illegal landfill, the flames of which spread to a wheat field, and the lack of adequate response from the authorities. On July 14, residents of the village of Karlanyurt in the Khasavyurt district reported that acrid smoke from the burning landfill was coming into the village, and repeated appeals to officials did not lead to a solution to the problem.