Water level in Kherson down by 2cm, over 200,000 people in Dnepropetrovsk region have no access to water supply

MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - As of Friday morning, the water level in Kherson has decreased by two centimeters to eight centimeters since the beginning of the day, the Ukrainian State Service for Emergency Situations said.

"Three communities (86 houses) on the right bank of the Dnieper River remained partially flooded," Ukrainian media quoted the service as saying on its social network account.

Rescue teams have pumped out over 217,000 tonnes of water from 767 basements and houses in responding to the disaster, including 21,200 tonnes of water pumped out from 68 basements and houses over the past 24 hours alone. They have also delivered over 601 tonnes of drinking water to residents, including over 26 tonnes in the past day.

In the Nikolayev region, 746.6 hectares of farmlands and 191.9 hectares of uncultivated lands in three communities of the Bashtanka district along the Ingulets River's banks remained partially flooded.

Emergency services have pumped out 3,115 cubic meters of water from 185 households over the emergency period, including 55 cubic meters of water pumped out from four households over the past day. They have also delivered 80 cubic meters of drinking water to locals, including 20 cubic meters over the past day alone.

Ukrainian media reported with reference to Sergei Lysak, head of the Dnepropetrovsk regional military administration, that over 200,000 people in the region had no access to water supply in the wake of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant dam collapse.

"Currently, over 200,000 people have no access to water supply. This includes the entire Nikopol district and several communities in the Krivoi Rog district. Their residents have already been provided with 6,000 tonnes of drinking and technical water. Nearly 250 water distribution stations have been deployed, using large tanks and water tank trucks. The State Service for Emergency Situations is helping. Rescuers are delivering water by fire engines," Lysak wrote in social media on Thursday.

"We have started implementing major projects, the key one being the construction of a trunk water pipeline from Ingulets to Yuzhnoye. The work is ongoing 24/7," Lysak said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian media have reported on their social network accounts referring to the Zaporozhye regional military administration that residents of the Kiev-controlled part of the region have been suffering from a foul smell because of the Dnieper's shallowing caused by the Kakhovka HPP disaster.

The regional authorities reported that, as the water receded from the banks, the bottom mud exposed to direct sunlight started evaporating and producing a pungent smell. Forecasts show that this situation might last for another several days.

Local sanitary services have stepped up monitoring the water composition in the river.