Protecting the rights of people affected by the flooding caused by the Irganay Reservoir

Irganay case: collective challenge of state inaction on compensation for flooded homes and land

The Irganay Reservoir is one of the most scenic places in Dagestan — and it also hides, under water, land that belonged to around 10,000 people. To build the reservoir, residents of five villages had their homes and orchards taken without prior and equivalent compensation. People have been waiting for compensation since 2008, and I have been assisting them since 2020.

Background

During the construction of the Irganay Reservoir and the operation of the Irganay Hydroelectric Power Plant (Avarskoye Koisu River), homes, orchards, and land plots belonging to residents of five villages were flooded. Under water ended up land that effectively supported the region’s well-being: people lived off horticulture and the sale of crops. Approximately 10,000 people were affected.

Nature of the violation

In 2008, the reservoir level was raised above the previously stated benchmarks (flooding had been planned only up to the 535 m mark under Decree of the Government of Dagestan of 23 November 1998 No. 222). Some residents discovered water already inside their homes. No prior and equivalent compensation was paid, despite the existence of a regional compensation procedure (Decree of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan of 30 June 2003 No. 159).

Years of correspondence followed: requests were forwarded “in a circle” to the relevant authority, which responded with the same template line — “if a positive decision is made, we will inform you additionally” — and in some cases stopped responding altogether to the most persistent applicants.

People rushed to save themselves and whatever property they could — slabs, sofas, wardrobes, clothing. What could be saved was saved, but most of the property had to be left behind under the pressure of the rising water.

Legal issue

Unlawful inaction by state authorities, expressed in the failure to take real measures to organise and finance compensation under the established procedure.
Violation of property rights due to the loss of housing and land without proper compensation.
Allocation of responsibility and the source of funding: on paper, the issue was treated as federal (payments required budget funding through an inter-agency procedure).

Case strategy

Since 2020, I joined the matter and structured the work around a model of “collective pressure through law”:

mass collective petitions to federal authorities to move the issue out of the “corridor” of regional brush-offs and trigger an inter-agency review;
preparation and filing of the largest collective administrative claim challenging inaction (561 claimants), focusing on the duty of the authorities to take specific steps to prepare documents and advance funding;
litigation through multiple instances with careful preservation of the legal position and evidentiary record.

After victory in Moscow city court

Proceedings and court outcomes

First instance: the claim was dismissed.
Appeal: victory — the first-instance decision was overturned; the claim was partially granted. The court accepted the arguments against the Government of the Republic of Dagestan, but rejected the claims against the federal authority (the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia).
Cassation (November 2022): the appellate judgment was upheld, confirming legally significant inaction at the level of the republican authorities.

This was crucial not only legally but also in practice: the court decisions put an end to the common narrative that “everyone has already been paid” and moved the dispute into the sphere of enforcing the state’s obligation.

Current status

After the court victory, the matter moved into a difficult “implementation through documents” stage — coordination of a substantiating package of materials between Dagestan’s executive authorities and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.

In February 2023, the Government of Dagestan re-submitted a budget request to the Ministry of Economic Development (for the first time in many years). The federal ministry raised questions regarding the documentation; some have already been resolved, others remain in progress.

In spring 2025, the Government of Dagestan submitted the request again with the full set of documents. Work on eliminating remaining documentary deficiencies is ongoing.