Landslide still threatens village of ZandakTimur Aliyev, North Caucasus, January 20 – The village of Zandak in the Nozhai-Yurtovsky district is still in danger of a possible landslide. Thirty six houses are directly threatened, stated Aslan Abazov from the regional monitoring center of the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Sixteen houses were destroyed and 250 inhabitants lost their homes during a landslide in late December. According to Abazov, the present emergency was caused by too much soil irrigation due to heavy snowfalls followed by a sudden warming.
“Fortunately there were no casualties thanks to inhabitants being warned by the noise, which is a side-effect of the landslide,” he added.
However, according to sources in the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Protection, this emergency could have been prevented. “This situation was predicted in 2003 when we asked for money to carry out preventative measures. Although a decision was made to provide the money, we have yet to receive any of it,” said the Department officials.
At present the fear of continuous landslides exists, and specialists are convinced that all people living in that danger zone will have to be resettled. “And there are several such dangerous areas in Chechnya, including the districts of Vedeno, Shatoi, Sharoi, as well as the Sim-Sir village in the Nozhai-Yurtovsky district,” concludes Abazov.
(H/E,T) |
