Uzbek Capital Cracks Down on Clotheslines
Laundry drying outside--legally--in Istanbul.
You thought your subdivision was tough, with its restrictions on "unsightly" activities like hanging laundry out to dry. In Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, city officials have taken clothesline bans to a whole new level, threatening anyone who dares to dry outside with eviction.Police have been going door-to-door warning apartment tenants about the new rule against clotheslines, and the possible consequences, a particularly frightening approach in an authoritarian country that has shown little regard for human rights.
"Unfortunately, the population still fears real punitive force from the police," a Tashkent-based lawyer said. "Therefore, residents will prefer to bribe and pay off, rather than argue" about the rules, which he says run afoul of laws protecting private property from seizure.
Like in many places outside of the United States, line-drying laundry is more of a necessity than an eco-friendly choice. "Now each time I want to wash my clothes, I must search for a drying space in my two-room apartment of 49 square meters in which all my family--four adults and two small children--lives," one resident complained. "There is no free space to find room for even a small dryer." Via: "Authorities Using Dirty Tactics to Clean Up Laundry," EurasiaNet.org
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