Flood-hit area on the Tskhneti street in the Vake district, June 18, 2015. Photo: Photo: ministry of infrastructure
In the wake of the deadly flood last weekend in Tbilisi, the government is considering set of measures to increase safety along the Vere river channel including installing early warning systems and resettlement plan from high risk zones, PM Irakli Garibashvili said.
“It was a big shock,” he said in an interview with the Tbilisi-based Imedi TV late on Friday night about the flood that killed at least 19 people from the night of June 13 to June 14; three people remain missing.
Describing it as the worst natural disaster in Tbilisi in over 50 years, the PM said that neither the current nor any previous government in Georgia had the experience of tackling such kind of disaster in the capital city. A similar flooding of the river Vere occurred in Tbilisi in 1961.
He made these remarks while responding a question on criticism that the government was late in its response to the disaster. Critics say that the authorities should have at least blocked the traffic on the Amirejibi highway connecting Tamarashvili street with the Heroes Square, along the river Vere channel, after learning about the massive landslide outside Tbilisi.
Officials say that the landslide, caused by heavy rainfall on June 13, on Tskneti-Betania road outside Tbilisi, dammed up Vere river, which then burst, and turned normally small stream into a raging river, sending torrent of fast-flowing water, debris and mud down all along the river channel towards the capital city center via parts of Vake and Saburtalo districts.
“I don’t want to comment on opponents’ allegations; when people die, then it is easy to blame these deaths on the authorities… I understand the opponents very well, it is their goal to blame the government for all the bad things,” PM Garibashvili said. “All the allegations that government failed to respond promptly are completely groundless.”
The government established a state commission with invited experts, among them geologists, architects, urban planners and engineers, to elaborate a comprehensive plan on how flood-hit areas along the Vere river channel, as well as its adjacent territories should be rehabilitated in a way that would minimize damage in the event of a similar flooding in the future.
Among the most immediate measures, the PM said, would be installing “alarm systems” along the 30-kilometer long section of the Vere river channel, as well as GEL 3 million worth project involving flood barriers at some sections of the river.
Precipitation measuring system will also be installed, he said.
A worker, clearing up flood-hit sausage factory on the Svanidze street, rests, June 19, 2015. Owners of the factory say the flood caused at least GEL 2.3 million damage to the company. Photo: Eana Korbezashvili/Civil.ge
The commission will also work to elaborate a resettlement plan, that would involve relocation of those families, whose houses are located in the risk zone and are the most vulnerable in case of Vere river flooding.
Process of chaotic constructions over the past twenty years turned parts of the Vere river floodplain into residential areas in some part of Tbilisi’s Vake and Saburtalo districts.
The Svanidze street in Vake is among them; the flooding killed five people there. It was the first area in Tbilisi to be hit by the flood before the torrent ran further down towards the major highway, flooding Mziuri Park, the zoo, the Heroes’ Square and a section of the Mtkvari river’s right embankment.
The PM said that that resettlement plan will also define those areas, where it will be prohibited to carry out any housing projects.
There are total of 106 families, whose houses have been damaged as a result of the flood. 25 of them will need new homes as flood either completely or partially destroyed their houses.
“Not a single family will remain without a house. They have nothing to worry about it,” PM Garibashvili said.
The EU has pledged up to EUR 3 million for housing solution following the Tbilisi flood.
The state commission is also deliberating on the fate of the highway, linking Tamarashvili street with the Heroes’ Square, parts of which have been heavily damaged by the flood.
Highway linking Tamarashvili street with the Heroes’ Square; flowers seen an at the impromptu memorial for the victims of the flood, June 19, 2015. Photo: Eana Korbezashvili/Civil.ge
Its construction five years ago was a controversial project as critics were warning back then that it was not properly planned. Although not the cause of the disaster, some, including several senior officials, now argue that the way this major road was constructed exacerbated consequences of the flooding as new additional tunnels through which the river runs at some place, failed to handle large amount of water during the flooding, forcing it to overflow on the road. No environmental impact study was done prior to the construction.
PM Garibashvili said that alternative project of the highway also existed and it was “safer”, but at the cost of GEL 140 million it was more expensive than the one based on which the highway was built, costing about GEL 80m.
He also said that although final decision has yet to be made, the government will have to restore the existing road before a long-term solution will be elaborated, involving major revamp of this road infrastructure.
If not restored, officials say, absence of this major road will exacerbate already intense traffic in the central parts of the capital city.
One of the damaged sections of the highway, June 14, 2015. Photo: Guram Muradov/Civil.ge
The total flood damage cost is exceeding GEL 100 million (about USD 45m), Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri said on June 19.
So far GEL 10 million has been allocated from the central budget and GEL 7.5 million has been raised through donations from businesses and citizens, Khaduri said.
He also said that efforts are underway to attract funding, including through soft loans from various international financial institutions.
Georgia’s billionaire ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili said on June 18 that he would fill the Tbilisi flood relief funding gap if there is any.
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