Azerbaijan: situation in flooding zone remains tense

The situation in Mursalli village and surrounding area (Azerbaijan), where in the evening on May 10 the Kura River washed off a dam, remains strained. Dashgyn Agaev, a resident of the village, said today in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that water continues to advance. The situation is also heavy in the Salyan District, where the water level would not go down. Deputies from the opposition accuse officials of having done nothing to prevent the tragedy.

Villagers tell about the scale of the calamity

According to Dashgyn Agaev, a resident of Shykhlar, the villages of Mursalli and Shykhlar, which practically merge with each other, are already flooded by 2/3. In total, about 1200 families live there; about 700 of them have been evacuated. According to Agaev, the evacuated residents were placed into a tent camp in the city of Shirvan. Some villagers moved to their relatives.

"Thanks God, there are no casualties and victims. People could evacuate their utensils and animals," said the source. According to his version, Ulachaly village was also partially flooded.

At the same time, he reported that to prevent further inflow of water the second stopping dam is urgently erected. "Today since morning numerous forces of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) operate in the village. The servicemen of the Ministry, together with the workers of the OJSC 'Amelioration and Water Management', are intensely erecting a new dam. The locals who remained in the villages help them. The sunny weather favours the earthwork," said Agaev.

When asked whether any compensation would be paid to the residents, indemnification will be paid to the population, Dashgyn Agaev said: "Certainly, we expect help from the state. But now nothing is said about it. It is clear that the main thing now is to stop water and pump it out of the flooded places."

The situation remains heavy in the Salyan District, where the water level would not fall. The main reason is in subsoil (ground) waters. According to Emil Mamedov head of the local NGO "Assistance to Democracy", subsoil waters are pumped by fire-fighting trucks; however, it is not enough.

The many days of flooding have seriously worsened the sanitary-and-epidemiologic situation. "Warm weather and abundance of water gave rise to clouds of mosquitoes, and musty water generates awful stink and promotes reproduction of various insects," Mr Mamedov said.

Let us note here that tent camps capable to house 4 thousand persons evacuated from the disaster areas were set up in the cities of Sabirabad and Shirvan.

On the weekend, residents of nine villages and two settlements of the Sabirabad District were evacuated.

The property of residents of these dwelling settlements is guarded by the police.

Oppositional MPs accuse officials of inaction in preventing the tragedy

Today, at the session of the parliament deputies from the opposition offered to discuss the situation in the calamity area. However, the pro-governmental majority of MPs rejected the offer.

Thus, Fazail Agamaly, head of the pro-governmental Party "Anna Veten" (Homeland), noted that the situation in Salyan and Neftechala "is not so tragic". He emphasized that the main guilty person was the nature.

Panakh Gusein, deputy-oppositionist from the flood-damaged Sabirabad District, gave a tough reaction, saying that "corrupted officials from state bodies are also guilty as they did nothing to prevent the tragedy."

"Every year funds are allotted from the budget on protective works. But nothing is done. Moreover, due to bureaucrats' criminal negligence protective zones along the Kura River were illegally built up. The natural barrier - forest plantations - was liquidated. These persons should be made answerable," Mr Gusein said.

In the course of the session Ali Ahmedov, executive secretary of the party in power "Eni Azerbaijan", and his deputy Mubariz Gurbanly harshly accused the opposition "of attempts to use any situation for accumulating their political capital." They draw attention to the fact that "Azerbaijan has no victims of flooding, and respective bodies do everything necessary."

Meanwhile, local press continues criticizing the government's actions in the conditions of the calamity. "High water and overflow of the Kura and Araz Rivers of the banks caught the authorities of Azerbaijan unawares. The system was not ready to face the attack of the nature, which was a relapse of the 2003 flooding," the "Turan" agency noted in particular.

"The society saw the government's reaction only a week later, when water had already covered essential territories. The MfE - the main country's body in charge of notification and prevention of natural calamities and other cataclysms, has another time failed with its function," the Agency asserts.

Getting comments at the press services of the Cabinet of Ministers and MfE was impossible. Recently, their telephones have stopped answering at all.