A mystery even for GPS: Discover how people live in the "ghost town" of Almaty region.

According to the television channel, a residential area in the Almaty region, which lacks a name, legal status, and address, does not appear on maps. Roads and central utilities are also absent, and emergency services can only locate it based on tips from locals. Consequently, people have been living this way for nearly 15 years, relying solely on themselves.

The homes of local residents, as noted in the report, essentially do not exist in official databases. Any issues regarding documentation become insurmountable obstacles. For instance, local resident Nurgul Abaykhan purchased a plot here back in 2011 for a personal consumer cooperative. At that time, the woman had no idea she was building a house in a blank spot on the map.

"We cannot register our residence. We are 'hanging' in the air. We do not exist anywhere in Kazakhstan. The plots were bought through advertisements. Karasai district. We have state acts and documents. People created documents privately. Yet we are honest taxpayers. We pay all our taxes," shared Karasai district resident Nurgul Abaykhan.

It is noted that the settlement is located between the villages of Zhambyl and Batan. However, it is in a "blind zone." Numerous appeals to local authorities have yielded no results, which is why residents have laid all utilities at their own expense.

"When we submitted a request to the akimat, we were told that we would be given a name only after the population reached 5,000 people. We do not need that. Let them just establish a street name. There are only 60 houses here. We later submitted a request to the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Almaty region. They forwarded all complaints back to the department of the Karasai district akimat," said Karasai district resident Ainur Tulezhova.

Local students also face difficulties since the journey to school resembles an obstacle course: children and their parents are forced to navigate a dangerous route — a pipe over the river. This is the only way to school.

Local responsible authorities note that work is currently underway to connect the residential area to the nearest village. However, no specific timelines have been announced.

"Work is currently in progress. This is a phased process. Border schemes will be prepared, where a master plan will be designed. Next, we gather the schemes and submit a budget request to the Department of Architecture of the Almaty region. They will then call for tenders. After the tender is announced, project organizations will be selected to develop the master plan," said Darment Zhapakov, a specialist in the architecture and urban planning department of the Karasai district.

However, according to officials, the issue will only be resolved within a year. Local residents, after 15 years of waiting, are pleased with such a response. The main thing is that their residential area finally receives official status and appears on maps.