Kazakhstan’s Alatau Braces for Emergency Declaration Amid Landfill Fire

Authorities in the town of Alatau, Kazakhstan, are preparing to declare a state of emergency as a persistent landfill fire continues to burn.

The city administration has submitted a draft resolution “On declaring a local-scale state of emergency of a man-made nature” for public discussion, The Caspian Post reports, citing Kazakh media.

According to the document, the state of emergency is introduced in line with the law “On Civil Protection” and the classification of emergencies approved by the Ministry of Emergencies of Kazakhstan.

As it is explained in the explanatory note, the adoption of the document is aimed at timely notification of the population and organization of required measures.

The draft law will be available for discussion on the legalacts.egov.kz web portal until September 17, 2025.

Earlier, in the morning of September 15, it was reported that a fire had broken out at a municipal solid waste landfill near Almaty.

Extinguishing efforts are complicated by heavy fire load.

According to regional authorities, the blaze occurred on the 35^th kilometer of the Almaty-Ust-Kamenogorsk highway, near the village of Alatau, at a landfill operated by ADC TAZA ALEM LLP. The fire spread over 10 hectares of the landfill's territory.