After the torrential rains in Southwestern Bulgaria, some villages still have no domestic water supply

Work on clearing the damages after the heavy rains In Southwestern Bulgaria continues on December 14. The situation is improving. In the five municipalities of Blagoevgrad, Simitli, Kresna, Petrich and Garmen, the state of emergency has not yet been lifted. Domestic water supply in several settlements has not been restored.

This problem is expected to be resolved tomorrow. In the municipalities of Petrich and Kresna, the water supply has been restored. However, there are still infrastructure problems in many places there. The bridge from Blagoevgrad to the village of Pokrovnik also remains closed to traffic. The facility succumbed to the high waters of the Struma River and since yesterday people and cars are not allowed. There are no power outages in the district.

For a third day in a row, there is no water in the resort village of Ognyanovo and people rely on water tanker for delivery of drinking water.

In Garmen and Dabnitsa, there was water for several hours.

The main problem remains - the restoration of the broken water supply system. Currently, this is a critical solution to the situation, so we appeal to the state, because pipeline is state-owned, to take the necessary action to restore the main water supply pipe, which was broken due to the overflowing Mesta river, said Feim Isa, mayor of Garmen.

The kindergartens in Garmen and Ognyanovo are temporarily closed. In the municipality of Petrich, the road to Belasitsa hut, where there are several landslides, remains closed. The short road from Petrich to the village of Belasitsa and the other villages in the area is also closed. And in the Buhoto neighbourhood, people continue to clean their homes of mud and water.

This week, an inspection and a detailed assessment of the damages to the municipal infrastructure and residents’ properties will be made. The municipality will apply for financial assistance in the interdepartmental commission for disaster recovery.