The case of Mestia

A FEW THINGS ABOUT SVANETIDiverse factors determine Svaneti’s individuality and uniqueness:geographic location and climate, rich natural resourcesand landscape, cultural-historic monuments, distinguished traditions and customs.Svaneti is divided in two major parts - Zemo (upper) and Kvemo (lower) Svaneti 8 . Zemo Svaneti is located in northwesternGeorgia at an altitude as high as 2,200 meters. Its administrative center, Mestia, is 140 km away from Zugdidi, the capitalof the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region and 540 km from Tbilisi. There are two roads to Zemo Svaneti – one from Zugdidivia Khaishi, and the other from Lentekhi (Kvemo Svaneti) via Ushguli, which is closed during the winter.The majority of the population in Svaneti is ethnically Georgian - Svans, who adhere to age-old customs and lifestyle. Theyhave their own language – Svanetian 9 - which is used in everyday life. Presumably, their unique nature was caused partially bygeographic “isolation” 10 and severe natural conditions. Its remoteness made it less exposed to external or internal threats. –Forexample, the country’s secular and ecclesiastical treasures would be brought to Svaneti for safekeeping, as conquerors rarelyreached the region. However, Svaneti constantly had to protect its uniqueness – and maintainits social and cultural identity,which is favorable and exotic to some, and “wild”, and “unclear” to many others. Tsarist Russia tried to “tame” this distant provinceby imposing taxes and forcing military conscription. During the Communist period, the Svans were deprived of ownershiprights to their patrimonial heritage, as it had become the collective property of the Soviet authorities. Nevertheless, the Svan’straditional land ownership principle proved to be quite efective. When lands coniscated by the Communists were returned,the Svans regained their patrimonial land plots absolutely painlessly and without any conlicts among themselves , despite thefact that most did not have oicial documentation conirming ownership rights. 11 The Svans settled this issue and availableland resources were distributed among families and the ownership rights to land is inherited from the fathers. 12Svaneti’s rich natural resources attracted the attention of the Soviets – the Enguri hydroelectric power plant was built onEnguri river and began operations in 1987. It is the highest concrete arch dam in the world and has a total capacity of1320 MWs 13 . The successful project, however, brought about serious ecological and social problems for the locals – foresttracts were looded, a “dead” water reservoir was created, humidity increased considerably, which had an adverse efecton the agricultural activities of the local population, as well as on their health. 14 Implementation of a second similar projectwas put on the agenda – construction of the Khudoni hydroelectric power plant, however, gradual fading of the Communistrule and a serious wave of protests in the 1980s have suspended this process temporarily. 15 Construction of theKhudoni Dam is still on the agenda and despite negative attitude of environmentalists and the local population, a politicaldecision on implementation of this project has in fact been already made. 16 If the Khudoni Dam is built, the village ofKhaishi and adjacent villages will be looded and some 2000 local residents will have to be resettled. The local ecosystemwill also be signiicantly damaged. 17Zemo Svaneti is a highly active avalanche region. Of the 338 settlements in Georgia exposed to avalanche, 107 are inSvaneti (Zemo, Kvemo Svaneti and the Dali Gorge). 96% of the Zemo Svaneti territory is in an avalanche zone, while 41%of the territory is entirely exposed to avalanche. 18 Many experts believe that developing large infrastructure projects insuch complex zones without properly calculating the risks of environmental impact and natural calamities poses a threatto both the local population and tourists.8 http://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svaneti9 There are difering opinions in the Georgian society about the Svanetian being a language or dialect, which at a certain degree are caused bydissent between linguists. Discourse over this subject is beyond the scope of our report, however, we note hereby that on the oicial web page ofthe Government of Georgia, the Svanetian is mentioned among the Georgian language-dialects: http://www.government.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=GEO&sec_id=193##710 Which was often accompanied by cultural, social, and economic “isolation” as well (T.P)11 Meeting with the local population, CTC oice, Mestia, 26 March 2011.12 It is hard to clarify from the locals exactly when had the ancestors received their land. The locals’ belief in fairness of mechanism of land inheritanceis so strong that they never doubt it (T.P.).13 http://www.engurhesi.ge14 http://www.open.ge/index.php?m=94&y=2002&art=1260215 The Khudoni Dam: A Necessary Solution to the Georgian Energy Crisis? Green Alternative. 200716 http://www.radiotavisupleba.ge/content/article/9502735.html17 The Khudoni Dam: A Necessary Solution to the Georgian Energy Crisis? Green Alternative. 200718 Expeditionary and archive materials of the Hydro meteorological Institute.7