Industrial production and administrative resources influence on the environmental situation in the Kuibyshev Region in the 1950s–1970s

The paper examines the impact of the accelerated industrial development of the Kuibyshev Region in the 1950s and 1970s on the environmental situation in the region. The activities of defense, petrochemical, and machine-building industries had a negative impact on the quality of atmospheric air and drinking water. This had a negative impact on the health of the urban population. The conflict of interests between the plans of industrial development of the region and the need to preserve its environmental safety is considered. As a rule, the interests of economic development won, and the industrial potential of the region was constantly replenished with new industrial giants, which further worsened the environmental situation. The paper shows that the measures to improve it taken by the regional authorities and sanitary and epidemiological structures did not always lead to the desired results, since the interests of the industry leaders focused on the implementation of the planned tasks, while the interests of the population receded into the background. This led to the fact that the funds aimed at the environmental situation improvement were not fully developed. At the same time, the understanding of the enormous harm caused to the nature of the region by harmful industries forced the regional authorities to more actively defend its environmental safety.