Half of Housing in Varna's Asparuhovo 'Illegal' - Chief Architect

Most houses in the flooded low-lying part of Asparuhovo were illegal and this is not a problem just of Varna, the Chief Architect argues. Photo by BGNES

Varna Chief Architect Viktor Buzev said Monday that more than 50% of houses in flood-stricken Asparuhovo district were illegally built.

He told private channel NOVA TV's breakfast program that despite not having at disposal exact numbers in support of his words, "urgent and definite" measures are to be taken, as in many areas in Bulgaria buildings were placed on ground designated for catchment.

Such houses, in Buzev's words, could be erected "in 24 hours".

His comments come after it was revealed that illegal houses had been constructed in one of Asparuhovo's drainage gullies which had been mismanaged for years, and that contributed to the disaster which left eleven people dead after torrential rains caused a flash flood.

Completion of gullies was blueprinted some four decades ago, but lack of funding hindered construction, Buzev explained.

"If draining channels had been made, this tragedy might have not happened. They are designed precisely for the quantity of rains that poured down three days ago," the Chief Architect argued.

Gullies are not though to be among the main problems which caused the death toll, with two of them, constructed to carry water away, actually leading it into the lowest parts of Asparuhovo.

On Friday hours after the disaster, a deputy district mayor said temporary outlets had also been built in one of them.

Floods also hit north-central and other northeastern parts of Bulgaria last week, claiming one life in Dobrich, a town located 51 km from Varna.

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