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Recently, in one of the mahallas of the Almazar district in Tashkent, a residential house collapsed where a family of seven lived. The homeowner claims that the cause of the incident was the repair work carried out nearby under the supervision of the hokimiyat (local administration).
This story was shared by gender expert and feminist activist Irina Matvienko. According to her, it was an old house, and cracks had previously appeared in its walls due to earlier construction works in the neighborhood. The residents of the house had warned the workers about the possible consequences for the fragile building, but they were told not to worry — “everything would be fine.” However, “fine” turned out to be far from what the family expected — the house collapsed.
“Two days ago, this was a residential house in the Almazar district. Widow Nargiza lived there with her three children (ages 5, 9, and 11), her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and her late husband’s brother. It was a large, old house. Cracks had appeared in its walls during the previous construction work carried out nearby. Recently, construction began again on this street. According to Nargiza, it was overseen by the hokimiyat. The family members warned that the house was old, but they were told not to worry, everything would be fine. And this is the result,” said Matvienko.
After the collapse, Nargiza temporarily left her children with a neighbor, as a school and kindergarten are nearby. During the day, she ran around different government agencies trying to seek justice, and at night, she stayed with her mother in Yangiyabad. Her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and their son temporarily moved into a hotel.
Nargiza works as a seamstress, altering clothes, but now she has to look for a solution to her housing problem. Yesterday, her children couldn’t attend school because their uniforms and personal belongings were left under the rubble. The family’s friends have been helping them as much as they can: the neighbor’s sister, a friend of Irina Matvienko, gathered some clothes for the children and brought food.
Irina reached out to the Agency for Social Protection to ask for help for the family, but she was told that this issue falls under the jurisdiction of the hokimiyat. They promised to look into the situation but gave no guarantees. The activist also asked a volunteer to pass on the information to the children’s ombudswoman.
The next day, Irina checked with her acquaintance to see if there was any news from Nargiza. Unfortunately, there was silence from the authorities. Nargiza called the prosecutor’s office at 1007, where her request was accepted, but she was warned that the review process would take 15-30 days. No one else contacted her.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like — to lose all your possessions, your home, your money in a single day. These are the realities of wartime, not of a capital city where there is no war,” said Irina Matvienko with sadness.
Nargiza’s family continues to fight for justice and hopes for help from the authorities.
The article may contain inaccuracies as it is translated by AI. For more details, please refer to the Russian version of the article. If you notice any inaccuracies, you can send corrections via the Telegram bot: Uzvaibik_bot.
