Bulgaria after Flood Disaster: Tons of Urban Waste Clog Rivers across the Country
Environment | January 15, 2021, Friday // 14:25| viewsThere is a very big problem in our country after the torrential rains which flooded a lot of regions across Bulgaria. And it's not about the dangerous high waters, it's about the thousands of tons of waste that rivers have dragged to the HPPs around the country. An eco-catastrophe is looming large, but this does not make an impression on the institutions at the moment.
HERE'S WHAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATION - "FOR THE EARTH" WRITES:
The surging waters of the Iskar River washed in a whole "island" of branches and waste woven into them to the HPP along the river.
A similar thing happened in Burgas. This is, to put it mildly, an environmental catastrophe that raises very important questions about the overall situation in the state.
Who will take responsibility for pollution?
Why it happened?
Why institutions aren't doing their job?
Why waste management across the country is a complete failure?
Why millions are allocated for incinerators, not for recycling?
Why biodiversity in our rivers is dying and at the same time we continue to build hydro power plants?
Why riverbeds are clogged by plastic bottles all over the country and should we wait for the rain and flooding to 'clear them'?
Who is against deposit payment for plastic bottles? (The deposit in this case is a refund in exchange for a returned empty bottle in a store, similar to glass beer bottles.)?
When will we see really recycled construction materials and their reuse, instead of thermal insulation floating in the river?
We insist:
Ministry of Environment and Water to take care of preserving nature clean and take responsibility for the specific pollution cases. The debris washed in by flooding waters probably accumulated along the river for a very long time.
Last winter we have submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Water a petition with proposals to further reduce plastic pollution, signed by over 19,000 people, but so far we have no answer.
We ask the Ministry when there will be an adequate system for urban waste management? And who will monitor its implementation?
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