Bulgarian PM Vows Centralized, Transparent Governance of Dams

The dam failure on Monday caused massive flooding in the village of Biser. Photo by BGNES

The dam failures of the last two days have caused Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to vow the introduction of a centralized system of governance of Bulgarian dams.

In a Tuesday interview for the private TV channel bTV, he said that Bulgaria had around 2800 dams and other smaller reservoirs managed by different institutions.

At present, major irrigation facilities are maintained by the Agriculture Ministry, drinking water reservoirs by Water Supply and Sewerage, which is in its turn controlled by the Regional Development Ministry, while hydroelectric power dams are the responsibility of the Dams and Cascades company, which is part of the national power grid operator NEK, which is run by the Economy Ministry.

Apart from that, there are around 2700 micro-dams and other small reservoirs which are governed by the respective municipalities.

The explanations provided by various institutions on the occasion of Monday's emergency revealed the lack of a unified register of such facilities providing summarized data about their condition.

"They even failed to get their total number right in 5 or 6 months," Borisov snapped, adding that some of the reservoirs did not even feature on maps.

The Prime Minister argued that there were pieces of infrastructure from the Communist era which lacked exploitation permits.

Asked to comment on the right steps at the moment, Borisov said that the proper thing to do was to ensure a "centralized system with clear rules".

"I will decide in the next few days whether it will be an agency or a ministry that will be placed in charge," he added.

He went on to say that dams in Bulgaria were properly maintained only in the summer because of the fishing but there was nobody to take care of the facilities in winter.

Borisov also noted that it was "an absolute tragedy" that a repeat of the disaster could not be excluded.

On Monday, the wall of the Ivanovo dam in southern Bulgaria collapsed and the nearby villages were hit by massive flooding.

The disaster took eight lives and two people are still missing.

Bulgaria continues to battle heavy snowfall and strong winds.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!