Building of a Hydro Power Plant near Trigrad

From an e-mail to us:

I would like to draw your attention to another incident of environmental damage currently taking place in the Rodopi (in the gorge of the Chairska Reka in the Trigrad region). We set off upstream along the river from Osmanov Vir and the Trigradsko Zhdrelo, expecting to enjoy a quiet nature walk with opportunities to view some of the region"s rare birds and flora. I was amazed therefore to discover the track which runs alongside the river was being blasted with explosives and a huge trench almost 2 metres deep was being dug by a variety of heavy machinery. The level of noise, dirt and destruction was alarming, not only to my group and myself, but no doubt also to the region"s fauna. Not surprising we saw almost no birdlife, and the orchid sites (including sites for Orchis militaris) which I have enjoyed with groups in previous years had now been completely blasted and bulldozed away.

Later in the day, when I spoke to the local people in Trigrad about what was happening in the gorge of the Trigrad Reka, they were furious that the authorities had allowed such destruction to take place, and told me that some mini hydro-electric scheme was being developed in the region. From my discussions, I was also given the impression that certain local people had experienced "reprecussions" for speaking out and trying to oppose what was taking place!