We currently have found that 131 dams can be classified as hazardous, Minister of the Economy Emil Karanikolov told BNT breakfast programme "The Day Begins" on 29th of March. These are not the big strategic ones, but they are not small, he added.

Emil Karanikolov, Minister of the Economy: There is lots of talk that nothing has been done in recent years, actually 2 years ago the control over the condition of the dams and the dam walls was transferred to the State Agency for Meteorology and Technical Surveillance. They are only responsible for the controls - they go check, give instructions, then check whether they are implemented and accordingly draw up acts of administrative violations and penalties, if there are violations.

There are no dams facing a state of pre-failure, but there are ones that are hazardous and measures should be immediately taken.

Currently, 131 dams that can be classified as hazardous, he added.

It is a priority to take action to immediately provide people with peace of mind, protect them and their property, the minister explained.

One of the categorisations will be for types of dams, volumes, size, water mirror, and the other categorisation will be for the level of hazard.


Source: The Bulgarian National Television