In Kyiv, the SaveDnipro conducted a study on the assessment of microdistricts according to environmental indicators, in particular the quality of air, drinking water, the state of water resources, soils, the availability of green areas and the littering of territories.
The worst districts were DVRZ, Raiduzhny, Voskresenka, Sotsmisto and Stara Darnytsia, reports SaveDnipro.
The authors of the study identified 47 microdistricts of Kyiv, analyzed the available environmental data and compiled a rating. For each available indicator, a microdistrict could receive from zero to 10 points, and the average score of all ratings affected its place in the ranking.
The data covers 2020–2021 and is current as of the beginning of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Koncha-Zaspa received the highest score in the rating — 10 out of 10.
Reservoirs
Contaminated water bodies, most often with phenols, were found in every district of Kyiv. The most polluted bodies of water:
- Holosiivskyi stream (Holosiivskyi district);
- Opechen-5 and Lake Verbne (Obolon district);
- Lake Lisove (Dnipro district);
- Mysholovsky stream (Holosiivskyi district).
Drinking water
The researchers checked the condition of the water directly in the apartments of Kyiv residents, as there is a risk of re-contamination through home networks. Only one of the 29 samples taken in different microdistricts showed a deviation of the iron index, the cause of which may be outdated communications.
Air
During the studied period, an excess of nitrogen dioxide was recorded in Kyiv, on average by 4.6 times. The largest daily excess was recorded in the Shevchenkiv district.
"There were also excesses of phenol, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide. An indicative trend was revealed during the study of air pollution with fine dust," the article says.
A higher level of pollution was recorded on the left bank of Kyiv than on the right. However, in the historical center of the city, pollution with fine dust is commensurate with the left bank, which may be related to the increased traffic load.
Green areas
In the study, indicators of walking accessibility to green areas from multi-apartment buildings and greenness coefficient NDVI were analyzed.
Worst availability:
- north of Podil;
- array "Flowering"
- Borschahivka – along the ring road,
- near the new buildings along the street Maksymovych and Williams in the Holosiiv district;
- youth quarter "Patriotika";
- partly on Voskresenka;
- Troeshchyno – near St. Myloslavska.
Regarding the planned promising green zones in the city of Kyiv until 2030, only the promising green zone of the "Osokorky" ecopark improves the situation for the neighborhoods of Nizhni Sady and Osokorky.
The best greening ratio was recorded in the Koncha-Zaspa microdistrict. The worst is in Podil, Pivdeniya Obolon, Poznyaki.
Soils
The main polluting elements found: salts of heavy metals, toxic chemicals, petroleum products, phenols, etc.
The most polluted places in Kyiv:
- the territory of the "Radykal" plant and its surroundings;
- zone of influence of the Bortnytsky aeration station;
- solid waste landfill No. 6 in Holosiivskyi district.
Waste
The most polluted areas during the research period were recorded in Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.
The material noted that the methodology developed for this study can also be used by public activists from other settlements to determine the state of the environment.
In addition, the authors of the study identified the main problems in each area and proposed ways to solve them — from the development and adoption of relevant normative legal acts (for example, the water strategy of the city of Kyiv) to changing people's behavior (information campaigns on waste sorting).
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that in Kyiv, in the Darnytsky district, near the Bortnichy housing estate, Lake Korovyache is planned to be announced as a landscape reserve of local importance, the area of which will reach 1 hectare.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, Kyiv was included in rating of the cities of the planet with high levels of air pollution.
