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Thousands rally against plan to raze Soviet-era flats

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MOSCOW: Thousands of people protested in central Moscow on Sunday against the city’s plan to tear down Soviet-era apartment blocks as part of a controversial urban redevelopment programme. The measure, announced in February by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, prompted an outcry from many residents who see a ploy to funnel state funds into construction companies. It would also ride roughshod over property rights, they say, while forcing many homeowners to move to neighbourhoods with lower property values. Muscovites yelled “Hands off Moscow” and “No to demolition” while shouting down envoys from the office of the mayor, a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin who had served as his chief of staff.


“Let us keep our houses!” fumed Svetlana Ilyina, a 59-year-old engineer. “It’s Sobyanin who should be demolished. This is in the interest of developers and the authorities who will receive huge kickbacks.” White Counter, an unofficial citizen group which places volunteers with counters at rally entrance points, put the turnout at just over twenty thousand. “Me and my girlfriend live in a quiet, leafy neighbourhood, and now they want to deport us to a less prestigious neighbourhood,” said Pavel Kuznetsov, 38, whose home is in one of the buildings slated for demolition. “I felt anger, and that’s putting it lightly,” he said. — AFP


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