This paper discusses issues related to environmental problems that arose as a result of the virgin and fallow lands development in Kazakhstan in the second half of the twentieth century. The authors emphasize that the level of agricultural production in the post-war years failed to meet the needs of Soviet citizens. Under these conditions, the massive plowing of land had to solve a whole range of tasks, first of all, to solve the problem of food hunger by means of a huge increase in the area for sowing grain crops. According to the authors, solid tracts of plowed soil, having a dark color, became very hot, provoking drought, which, with chronic manifestation, caused aridization of the entire steppe zone, causing significant drying up of rivers and lakes. The authors believe that large works on the virgin lands development have made serious changes in the nature of the region. Stocks of valuable hunting and game species of animals were undermined, and in some places completely destroyed. Taking advantage of the lack of control, the new settlers along with the local residents, mercilessly consumed the gifts of the environment, which gave rise to massive poaching. The methodological basis of the study was the complex use of various approaches, methods and assessments used in interdisciplinary research.

The article notes that after the beginning of the process of developing virgin lands in Kazakhstan in the 1950s, the health authorities faced the question of creating a disinfection station in the city of Tselinograd. The problem in those years was acute, since sewage treatment plants were under construction in the virgin land city and often sewage water was pumped without treatment and discharged into the Taldy-Kul storage lake, located 12 km from the city. The high population density led to an annual increase in the number of infections. The ongoing and final disinfection measures carried out by the health authorities undoubtedly gave certain positive results. However, in infectious diseases hospitals, the regime of chamber disinfection was constantly violated, there were not enough staff, which together lowered the quality of the complex of special measures aimed at destroying pathogens of infectious diseases. The authors of the article came to the conclusion that the measures carried out by the health authorities could not meet the needs of the local and visiting population, and the insufficient organization of the sanitary service was one of the reasons for the high incidence of various infections among the population.