The Chernobyl exclusion zone excites the imagination of people because of their "reverent" fear of radiation. An abandoned Pripyat attracts thrill seekers and romantics. They want to plunge into the atmosphere of an empty city, to see something unusual, which appeared under the influence of radiation.
And such travelers get a real surprise: there are many inhabitants in the exclusion zone. Do people live in Pripyat in the neighborhood of all other adapted? Talk about this mysterious topic.
Resettlement History
Mandatory organized resettlement of residents of Pripyat, Chernobyl and numerous villages in the radiation affected area took place in several stages. First, people were evacuated from the nearest settlements to the accident site, then the rest, as far as the distance from the source of discharge.
The first empty city was Pripyat itself (April 27). Next, people were taken from nearby villages (a 10-kilometer zone from the source of discharge). Then the zone emptied at a distance of 10-30 kilometers. The most distant villages were the last: residents were taken out until June.
From that moment, according to the law, not a single civilian should be in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Only the staff working there had permission to stay. However, the locals decided everything in their own way. So what is Pripyat fraught with? Do people live there now?
Immediate settlement of alienated territories
In the same 1986, just two weeks after the start of organized evacuation of the population from the infected territories, the first people began to return to their homes. The closed zone did not become a hindrance to the local, passionately loving his home.
There were also those who, using "partisan" methods, avoided compulsory evacuation: they simply lost sight of the evacuation teams and remained in their native places.
Thus, we found out what Pripyat has become. Life after people here did not actually come. Locals never completely left the city, even if you do not take into account the specialists working there.
Why did people come back?
The thought firmly stuck in our minds that we need to run away from radiation without looking back. Therefore, it seems strange and reckless that the inhabitants of the Chernobyl zone were drawn to their native infected places.
The craving for home, painfully familiar lands was irresistible. Evacuated immigrants, not finding their place in the world from the outside, returned to the territory of the zone in a short time.
Another factor that served as the reason for the settlement of the surroundings of Pripyat was the invisibility of radiation. If the enemy cannot be seen, then he is not terrible. Perhaps if radiation appeared physically in the air or settled on objects, the situation would have turned out differently. People then, immediately after the disaster, were not adequately worried about whether it is now possible to live in Pripyat and nearby points. They just returned home.
An important role in the emergence of Chernobyl dumpers was played by the economic factor. People’s soul didn’t lie for arrangement in another place. Plus objective problems with a lack of money.
Populated points
So, according to state accounting, about 300 people currently live in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Most self-settlers are concentrated in small villages.
The largest number of residents is in the city of Chernobyl - 40 people. In the villages of Lubyanka, Zalesye, Opachichi, Teremtsy, Ilyinka and others, from two to several dozen homeowners live. In 2013, their total number was more than 300 people. Thus, the answer to the question “Do people live in Pripyat” is unambiguous and quite concrete.
Composition of the population
Most residents of the Chernobyl zone are old people. You could meet young people here earlier. Some lived here, but more came to stay with relatives. Surprisingly, in the area separated from the main benefits of civilization in the 2000s, even one child was born. There were no more such happy events.
The average age of a self-settling exclusion zone is 60 years. It is noteworthy that most of the remaining inhabitants of these places are women.
Lifestyle of homeowners
Since we have already found out that people always lived in the exclusion zone, it's time to talk about how they live in Pripyat, that is, in the villages and towns near it.
Subsistence farming is what the Chernobyl dwellers and nearby villages live for. Most of the necessities of life they grow on personal plots. Harvest is checked for suitability for food in a special center. For the sake of meat and eggs, they hold a bird, some - cattle, even horses.
In addition to vegetables and fruits grown by hand, locals also consume fish caught in the Pripyat River. They also pick mushrooms, some even set traps for game. Food products willingly change among themselves, and the most popular “product” is fish.
The volume of farming depends on the physical capabilities and needs of people. These are mainly small gardens and a small number of pets. And there are whole mini-farms: the courtyards of several plots are combined and fenced. Part of this territory is allocated for crop production, part - for livestock. Excess grown farmers sell. But there are only a few such cases. Thus, we understand not only whether people live in Pripyat, but also how they manage to stay so far from the "living" cities.
Exclusion Zone Today
It is unusual, but understandable, why some people have remained to live in the Chernobyl zone to this day. However, even more interesting is that you can get there on an excursion. This is a walk through the abandoned Pripyat, Chernobyl and the surrounding villages, lush forests over the outskirts of the city.
People go on such excursions to look at places where a grand tragedy unfolded. Thousands of people said goodbye to their homes forever, leaving everything that was acquired by labor and dear to the heart.
Chernobyl with its mysterious atmosphere has become a place of pilgrimage for extreme lovers. Although, subject to simple safety measures, there is practically no extreme in it. However, this is a rather difficult psychological test.
There is an interesting phenomenon of modern culture - the fascination of science fiction writers with the topic of the exclusion zone. True, it is connected with the almost uninhabited territory only indirectly, thanks to the famous computer game STALKER. The action in it takes place just in the Chernobyl mysterious corners. The game was followed by a series of books by various writers, updated today.
Prospects
How many unimaginable fantasies appear in people at the mention of the words "Chernobyl", "Pripyat". The exclusion zone today and immediately after the disaster at the nuclear power plant has nothing to do with pictures settled in our heads with crowds of mutants and three-eyed cats. The present Pripyat is a deserted city that stores echoes of the past in things left by its inhabitants. The rest of the cities and villages predominantly represent the same picture, with the exception of rare single and family dwellings.
The prospect of resettling Pripyat “officially” is not planned, and will not be planned for a long time. Will there be life in Pripyat? Maybe. However, now this city is not chosen by homeowners.
Today, several hundred people live in the Chernobyl zone at their own peril and risk (do they feel it?). Basically, these are old people. Their children and grandchildren prefer settled “living” cities and only occasionally visit their relatives in the exclusion zone.
