Emergencies minister flies over Neberdzhaevskoye reservoir, finds no dam damage
KRYMSK, Krasnodar Territory. July 8 (Interfax) - Russian Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov inspected the Neberdzhayevskoye reservoir from a Mi-8 helicopter in the Kuban region on Sunday.
The dam has not been damaged, an Interfax correspondent said.
The hydraulic infrastructure is operating normally, and water is being discharged as usual.
A theory emerged a day earlier that the town of Krymsk might have been flooded as a result of a deliberate water discharge from the reservoir or because of its damage.
There was no water discharge from the reservoir which could cause floods in the Kuban region, the Emergency Situations Ministry said on Saturday. "According to the Kuban water agency, there was no water discharge," the Emergency Situations Ministry told Interfax. The flooding could be caused by clogged gutters, mudslides and overflowing rivers, the ministry said.
On Sunday, the investigative committee confirmed that a natural water discharge did take place at the reservoir but could not have caused the flooding. "Water discharges were carried out on a routine basis. There was no overtopping, so discharges could not have caused the flooding," Ivan Sengerov, senior aide to the Krasnodar Territory's chief investigator, told Interfax.
"Although the routine procedure involves occasional small discharges of water, this routine operation of the dam did not influence the evolvement of the tragic events," the Russian Investigative Committee said on its website. "No mass discharges of water or overtopping have been registered," the Committee said.
Water discharge from the Neberdzhayevskoye reservoir is not possible technologically, the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Oversight (Rostekhnadzor) told Interfax. "The very dam construction project was designed to make it technologically impossible to discharge water in an emergency mode," the agency said.
"The dam has a water discharge facility, but it is in its upper part and works only in the event of overtopping, which was not the case," the agency said.
According to the latest reports, floods in the Kuban region killed over 150 people.