It was forbidden to demolish the window between the kitchen and the bathroom: what was the reason

The children decided to make repairs to their elderly parents in an old Soviet apartment. They began to discuss the details of the new arrangement. My grandmother didn't like the idea of ​​putting a window between the kitchen and the bathroom right away. A couple of days after this discussion, she stated that, according to her friend from the housing and communal services, such a redevelopment is actually prohibited and illegal.

Let me explain so that you understand the context of what is happening. Parents received this apartment as a student, when they came to work at the plant, which later became their family. If since then they have done some kind of repair, then they have only repaired something to a minimum. Even Soviet tiles, as they say now, "from the developer" have been preserved on the bathroom floor.

When the toilet bowl began to flow hopelessly and had to be replaced with a new one, the grandmother could hardly come to terms with the fact that she would no longer see the flush cistern under the ceiling with a "hanging" for draining water through the window from the bathroom to the toilet. I think you have already understood that the window from the bathroom to the kitchen is just one of the few clues to the past that keeps the memories of youth.

Personally, I am amazed at the contrast. On the one hand, modern grandmothers can hold onto the past with a lion's grip. On the other hand, many are already familiar with smartphones. Granny quickly googled that a window is the most reliable way to prevent tuberculosis, and it can also save an apartment in a gas explosion. Confidence in their innocence was added by the support of a friend from housing and communal services.

At the same time, the refutation of the proposed versions did not seem to have been heard:

• Direct sunlight does kill tuberculosis bacteria. But what kind of direct light can we talk about if there are three meters from the window under the ceiling to the street? In addition, according to the Soviet tradition, it is painted over with paint, which over time has long since turned from white to red.
• The theory of protecting a house from a gas explosion has at least some right to live in apartments where a gas water heater is installed in the bathroom. Heating in this apartment was centralized.
• The redeveloped version has no right to life because there are no windows in the partition on the plan of the apartment. Given this fact, it is the option with a window that falls under illegal redevelopment.

As a result, Granny still defended the window. It is clear that there were no prohibitions to get rid of it. But if an elderly person needs so little to be happy, why not make a concession?