Bulgaria Drains Faulty Dam in Flood Area

Society | February 13, 2012, Monday // 14:35
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Drains Faulty Dam in Flood Area Last Monday the Ivanovo reservoir flooded Biser and surrounding villages, killing ten people. Photo by the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense

Authorities in Bulgaria's Haskovo region have started a controlled draining of the Elena reservoir, which suffered a fault during heavy precipitation in the beginning of last week.

Heavy rain and snow near Haskovo town of Harmanly last Monday provoked the tragic turn of events, in which the wall of nearby Ivanovo dam broke, flooding the Biser village, and causing the deaths of 10 persons.

At that time, the wall of Elena dam also suffered a crack, which provoked fears that a second flood might be in store for people in the area.

Monday authorities are letting water out at a rate of 2,000 liters per second, but the process is fully controlled and threatens no settlements on the river's way.

There is no danger of breakage of the Elena dam wall, assured Haskovo region governor Irena Uzunova and Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov.

Last week's tragic events raised the problems about the lack of clarity about the management of Bulgaria's many water reservoirs.

PM Boyko Borisov vowed to centralize state oversight on dams, transfering it from various agencies to the Minister of Economy and Energy.

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Tags: Traicho Traikov, Irena Uzunova, haskovo, Harmanli, Dam, dams, reservoir, flood, precipitation

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