9K people and 1,730 pieces of equipment ready to combat flood

Government • 25 February, 2020

9K people and 1,730 pieces of equipment ready to combat flood

Minister of Internal Affairs Yerlan Turgumbayev reported on preparedness for the upcoming flood period, the flood situation and measures taken to prevent and eliminate flood threats at the government session, primeminister.kz reports.

Egemen Qazaqstan

As Turgumbayev noted, the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with central and local executive bodies, is carrying out a series of measures to reduce the risk of emergencies during the spring flood.

According to preliminary forecast data of the RSE Kazhydromet, in general, the volume of snow reserves in the country and moisture reserves in river basins are significantly higher than normal. The process of snow accumulation continues. The most likely complication is the situation in the city of Nur-Sultan, East Kazakhstan and North Kazakhstan regions.

“Now 609 settlements, 675 sections of roads and 259 railways located in the real risk zone have been identified throughout the country,” the minister informed.

In order to prevent flooding by local executive bodies, more than 8.8 million cubic meters of snow were removed from settlements; reserves of fuels and lubricants (now 13.5 thousand tons), inert materials (152.6 thousand tons), bag containers (840 thousand units) and explosives (47 tons) were formed.

In emergency reserves 34 billion tenge are provided.

In case of possible flooding, 1,700 reception centers for the evacuated population were prepared, routes were updated, vehicles were allocated. For life support akimats prepared the necessary tools (tents, beds), food supplies and drinking water.

In order to promptly respond to possible complications of the flood situation, special forces and means of the internal affairs bodies were created with a total of 9 thousand people and 1,730 pieces of equipment.

Starting today (Feb. 25-26, 2020), the Republican command-and-staff exercise "Koktem-2020" with the headquarters in Nur-Sultan is taking place, which checks the readiness of the forces involved.

The Roadmap for the Prevention and Elimination of Flood Threats for 2017-2020 is being implemented, which over the past 3 years has eliminated the threat of flooding in 437 and minimized risks in 287 settlements.

As part of the Roadmap for material and technical equipment, about 900 pieces of equipment were purchased, including motor pumps, watercraft, all-terrain vehicles.

“In general, there is no need to talk about complete readiness for the flood situation this year. Planned activities for relocation to safe areas of residents of houses located within water protection zones are not being implemented. Of course, this is a very costly event, but the consequences of inaction can be much larger,” said Turgumbayev.

Also in 2019, 36 events out of 91 planned remained unfulfilled. This year, 132 events are under threat of disruption, of which 53 are provided for financing from the republican budget.

In this regard, it is proposed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs suggests that central and local executive bodies find funds for implementing the planned measures, take comprehensive measures to complete the Roadmap in 2020, and continue work on the prevention and elimination of flood threats within the framework of the Territory Development Plans.

It was also noted about the need for urgent measures to clear settlements from snow in order to avoid flooding by meltwater. Turgumbayev drew attention to the issues of transferring state ownership of ownerless reservoirs and dams, most of which are in unsatisfactory condition.

“In the flood period, we must have free volumes in reservoirs. Without this, it is impossible to regulate the safe level of rivers,” said the minister.

In addition, he said, there was a need to repair 463 hydraulic structures and take additional measures to prevent the destruction of infrastructure facilities, especially to prevent flooding of sections of roads and railways.

In conclusion, Turgumbayev noted that on Feb. 11, 2020, under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, a meeting of the Interdepartmental State Commission for the Prevention and Response of Emergencies was held, where issues of the state of readiness of management bodies, forces and means of the civil protection system during the flood period were discussed.