Vazrazhdane: The State is Again Delaying Measures Against Flooding on the Southern Black Sea Coast

The state continues to show worrying sluggishness in the implementation of measures to prevent floods on the Southern Black Sea coast, despite the existence of analyses and concrete proposals drawn up two years ago, the press center of Vazrazhdane – Burgas announced.

According to the party, the temporarily created interdepartmental commission, formed by order of the Council of Ministers on September 8, 2023, completed its work on time and submitted its reports on September 21 of the same year. The commission included representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Road Infrastructure Agency, the National Construction Control Directorate, Burgas Regional Administration, Tsarevo Municipality, as well as external experts from scientific circles. On October 4, 2023, the Council of Ministers adopted the reports and a plan of 19 corrective measures. 

Despite this, on October 3 of this year, the Southern Black Sea coast was again affected by a flood, almost identical to that of two years ago.

“Fortunately, this time without human victims, but the fact that the disaster was repeated in Tsarevo speaks of non-implementation of the proposed measures,” said the Burgas structure of Vazrazhdane. 

In a written response, the Prime Minister informed that as early as October 18, 2023, the Council of Ministers had ordered the preparation of a general action plan with financial parameters and deadlines. A plan was formulated in November 2023, but no government approved it, which blocked its implementation, as most measures require significant resources and institutional commitment.

After the repeated flooding this year, the current government has ordered a review and resumption of work on the measures. Some of the actions have been implemented – among them changes in the Water Act, new requirements for facilities crossing riverbeds, and regulation of free camping. However, most of them remain at the analysis and coordination stage, without clarity on financing and deadlines.

Members of Parliament from Vazrazhdane, Boris Aladzhov and Alexander Koychev, consider it unacceptable that two years after the tragedy and one year after its repetition, the state has still not taken full implementation of the established measures. In their words, the problem is not a lack of expertise, but a “lack of political will, administrative coordination and timely actions”.

The two point out that the planned corrective measures do not require a significant budget – about BGN 1 million, but only four out of a total of 19 have been implemented in two years.

Collective irresponsibility leads to the neglect of people's safety, to new destruction, and in the future can lead to new victims, say Aladzhov and Koychev, quoted by the press center of Vazrazhdane – Burgas.

BTA recalls that in September 2023, the flood in Tsarevo, caused by heavy rains, claimed four lives - two men and two women. The water disaster caused damage to the infrastructure in the municipality, flooded commercial premises, private homes, bridges were destroyed.

Over 410 liters of rain per sq. m. fell on the territory of Tsarevo at the beginning of October this year. This led to floods, which damaged road infrastructure, bridges, residential buildings and private properties.