An apartment building housing the Book World Store is expected to be demolished as part of the municipal redevelopment plan and a high block will be built on the site of it.
According to the Dushanbe mayor’s office, the Shahri Zeboi Man Limited Liability Company plans to build the high block on the site of this three-story apartment building, which is located at the intersection of Ayni and Lohouti streets.
Meanwhile, some residents of this apartment building do not agree with conditions offered by the Shahri Zeboi Man Company, and therefore, they have applied to the Dushanbe prosecutor’ office.
According to them, the company offers them US$600 per one square meter, while they want US$1,500 per one square meter.
This apartment building was constructed in the mid-1950s.
Asia-Plus has failed to get in touch with the Shahri Zeboi Man Company.
The ambitious municipal redevelopment plan includes the construction of modern buildings and the demolition plan has sparked a series of demonstrations by local residents whose homes have been targeted for demolition in preparation for the planned construction.
Meanwhile, demolition of historical buildings in Dushanbe began several years ago and the first was the building of the Main Post Office.
Plans to demolish some of the most popular landmarks in Dushanbe have sparked outrage. In a desperate bid to halt the destruction, hundreds of city residents in October 2015 signed an online petition addressed to president and Dushanbe mayor. The petition drew more than 600 signatures in the first day alone.
Reacting to a wave of Internet grumbling, Nourali Saidzoda, the first deputy head of the Committee for Construction and Architecture under the Government of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus that time that the buildings selected for demolition were of negligible value and needed replacing with modern hi-tech substitutes.
The authorities then demolished the Mayakovsky Russian Drama Theater and Jomi Movie Theater. Recall, the founding of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic was declared at the Mayakovsky Theater in 1929.
