Adyl Darbishev, a "Honored Hydrostroy Builder" and "Honorary Citizen of the City of Karakol," shared his memories of the city's development in an interview with Turmush. He recounted how it once was just a marshy area with reeds, and then transformed into a fully-fledged settlement with developed infrastructure.
According to him, life in the marshy lands was quite difficult at first. Hydrostroy builders from various corners of the Soviet Union came to the construction site, and the first settlers lived in tents.
Darbishev noted that on June 16, 1962, an order was issued by the Ministry of Energy of the USSR for the construction of Kara-Kul and the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Station (HPS). Prior to this, since April 1962, workers had already been in the settlement to build the Uch-Korgon HPS, but they were later transferred to Shamaldy-Sai to work on "Narynhydroenergo-stroy." A team of 12 people led by K. Khuriev began to lay roads for the implementation of the large-scale project to create the Toktogul HPS.
In May 1962, the Ministry of Construction of Power Stations of the USSR transformed the construction management that had previously dealt with the Uch-Kurgan HPS into the construction management of "Narynhydroenergo-stroy," subordinate to Glavvostokhydroenergo-stroy.
In July of the same year, by order of the Ministry of Energy, Major General Valentin Alexandrovich Poddubko was appointed as the head of the "Narynhydroenergo-stroy" management, who had previously worked in the NKVD.
Poddubko announced over the radio the start of construction of the Toktogul HPS as a All-Union Komsomol construction project. In response, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan and the Council of Ministers of the republic called for specialists to participate in the construction. The main group of workers and engineers from "Narynhydroenergo-stroy" relocated from Shamaldy-Sai to Kara-Kul, and young specialists from other republics also arrived.
The workers sent to the construction in the post-war years were often those who had served time in prisons and were granted amnesty. They also worked on large construction sites and in mines.
Darbishev also recalled that after the completion of the Volga-Don Canal, General Poddubko arrived to begin work on the Toktogul HPS. "Construction of the HPS did not start immediately, as there were no specialists in Kyrgyzstan capable of performing such work. Therefore, the leaders of 'Naryn HPS' appealed to the central television of the USSR for help. Announcements were placed in newspapers, and letters were sent to major construction sites inviting specialists. A training combine was opened to prepare personnel. It was important to attract people with practical experience in construction, but there were not enough such specialists," noted the energy veteran.
The first tent in Kara-Kul was set up near the site where the "Universal Store" is now located. It was there that the first group of builders arrived from Shamaldy-Sai, and construction of the city began in the spring. "At the site where the State Register is now located, there was a cafeteria that prepared food for the builders and workers of the HPS. I also ate there. After the collapse of the USSR, the cafeteria was destroyed, and a building resembling a Pioneer House was built in its place, which later became private property," he recounted.
In 1974-1975, Darbishev recalls that workers traveled in the back of trucks on weekends. Chief Poddubko was in a trailer located where the "Edelweiss" café is now. "People of that time were hardworking and always approached their work responsibly. The construction of the Toktogul HPS was controlled from Moscow, and all equipment was supplied from there. Workers arrived in new cars, while tractors and machines were delivered by rail to Shamaldy-Sai," he explained.
When the construction of the Uch-Korgon HPS was completed, some builders dispersed, while others came to Kara-Kul. There were neither dormitories nor cafeterias in Kara-Kul, so people set up tents and cooked food over fires. If the first group of 12 people arrived on June 16, 1962, soon the number of workers significantly increased, with builders coming from various places, including Uzbekistan and the Crimean Tatars.
Darbishev also mentioned that by autumn, it was planned to build 10-15 barracks for temporary housing. The Ministry of Energy of the USSR planned to erect 40 barracks, each containing 22 rooms. "In some rooms, two families lived, and infants were put to sleep in basins, as there were no facilities. Three barracks were built on the site of the mayor's office. Over seven years, Kara-Kul became home to 17,000 people," he added.
According to Adyl Darbishev, in 1962, "fanatics of their craft" came to Kara-Kul, people who valued their work and sought to create something new. "At that time, there were no roads like there are now. Cargo from Shamaldy-Sai was transported by horses," he said.
When I first arrived in Kara-Kul in 1972, the city had already celebrated its tenth anniversary. By that time, the Universal Store had been built, which was frequented by workers in helmets and boots. Back then, no one paid attention to fashion; everyone dressed alike. Up to 2,000 people lived in the dormitories – these were graduates of institutes who had returned from the army. The salary of engineers at that time was 120 rubles a month, which was considered quite good money. The city of Kara-Kul and the Toktogul HPS were built by people who performed their work with dignity, although many of them were not appreciated at the time," concluded Darbishev.
