Bulgaria Minister Calls for Coordinated Flood Protection Laws

Society » ENVIRONMENT | March 1, 2010, Monday // 15:55
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Minister Calls for Coordinated Flood Protection Laws Bulgaria Agricuture Minister Miroslav Naydenov visits the town of Bregovo, to inspect the flood situation for himself. During his visit, he called for changes in the law to better coordinate flood defence measures. Photo by BGNES

Changes in Bulgarian legislature are imperative, to ensure that river dikes come under the management of a single agency or ministry.

Miroslav Naydenov, Minister of Agriculture and Food, has visited the town of Bregovo, in northwestern Bulgaria, to see for himself the state of flooding caused by the River Timok, and to assess emergency responses.

The Minister explained on Monday that, at present, some protective levees are managed by the local municipalities, which mostly lack the means and expertise required for maintenance.

Others are managed by the Executive Agency for Hydro and Irrigations Systems, part of the Agriculture Ministry.

Adding to the complexity of the current situation, the Ministrer observed, is the fact that the Ministries of interior and of Environment and Water also have certain responsibilities for riverbanks and barrages.

In Bregovo, the protective dike is to be deliberately breached, in order to release the volumes of accumulated water back into the River Timok, Naydenov stated, adding that there was no time to wait, as dealing with the problem would take several hours.

A helicopter inspection will be made by specialists, to decide where precisely to destroy the dike. Once this is done, the water levels should drop over a period of 6-7 hours, he said.

The Minister also warned that the high level of the Timok might affect the tailing pond in the Serbian town of Bor, which could contaminate the river with heavy metals. This in turn would endanger the fertility of the land surrounding Bregovo.

Some 90 families had earlier been warned that they might have to be evacuated from their homes, should the water continue to rise.

Meanwhile, monitoring of levees and problem areas over the entire Danube Basin at the beginning of the Bulgarian section, is ongoing.

Hydrometrologists have reported that the River Lom continues to rise, but more slowly.

Lom muncicipality, assisted by civil defence teams, are preparing to built a temporary embankment around the port, to protect the town center, although the measure is not yet necessary.

Protective sandbanks have been built near Novo Selo, and an emergency unit is monitoring the state of defenses near the Danube town of Tutrakan.

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Tags: Miroslav Naydenov, Agriculture Minister, Bregovo, Lom, Bor, Serbia, flooding, danube, Timok

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