MOSCOW, May 15 (RAPSI) - A number of rallies were held in Moscow in recent days after a monumental resettlement project had been unveiled. Over 1.6 million people are to be moved from the city’s five-storey ‘Khrushchevka’ houses which authorities are going to demolish.

As a result Moscow residents went out into the streets either to support the project or to protest against it.

On Saturday those willing to move into modern flats and to get more information about the resettlement went to rallies in different districts of the city. One of the largest gatherings took place in southeastern district of Kuzminki where residents spoke to municipal authorities and asked about new flats, their location and guarantees that their property rights would be preserved.

Next day thousands of Muscovites joined a protest rally in the center of the city to express their concerns over the renovation project. Most protesters fear that they would be forced to leave their flats, left without any choice and that their property rights would be violated. Some residents are also concerned about the quality of the new accommodation, its location , lack of services and infrastructure.

Alexander, one of the protesters, told RAPSI that he used to live in the Moscow suburbs of Pavshinskaya poyma. After he realized that there was no place there even to park his car he bought a flat in ‘Khrushchevka’ and moved to Dorogomilovo district of Moscow. His house was crossed out of the renovation project but Alexander says that it might be a matter of time when it is demolished and he is forced to move to a skyscraper.

Many of the protesters carried banners that read 'Hands off our homes' and 'My house is my castle'.

Organizers of the rally that was duly agreed with Moscow authorities put the number of protesters at up to 60,000 while police put the number at 8,000.

Moscow police told that there were no reports of detentions or violence.

Moscow's Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that all requests of concerned residents would be taken into consideration. “We shall carefully consider all the substantive requests made at the rallies in Moscow on the renovation program, including those who oppose the program. In the course of work on the project, opinions of Muscovites will be scrutinized,” he said.

Residents should feel safe about their rights, including the right t to justice, according to Sobyanin.

In the meantime, a bill triggering the renovation process has passed its first reading in the parliament. It is expected to be extensively amended taking into account concerns of Muscovites.