Heavy downpours in southern Kazakhstan have flooded 200 houses and mining facilities in the mineral industry centre of Kentau, the Ministry of Emergencies (MOE) has said.
“As a result of downpours since 24 March, the flow of underground water emerging from mines and pits previously sunk in the town has increased sharply,” Aybolat Yermukhambetov of the MOE’s press service told IRIN from the capital, Astana.
Along with the 200 houses and mining facilities, a plant for enriching polymetallic ores, a transformer factory, and an excavation company have all been flooded, Yermukhambetov said. Water is also being pumped out of a mineral ore mine.
A further 49 houses were flooded in the commercial capital of Almaty following heavy rain on Saturday, the MOE said.
Emergency workers are trying to reduce water levels and the MOE says underground water levels have stabilised.
Some one million people living in 732 towns and villages across the vast Central Asian state are at risk from flooding as the spring thaw continues, Emergencies Minister Viktor Khrapunov told a cabinet session on Saturday, adding that 719 houses and public buildings have already been flooded this winter.
A further 49 houses were flooded in the commercial capital of Almaty, following heavy rain on Saturday, the MOE said.
Khrapunov pointed to the deteriorating condition of water industry facilities, singling out reservoirs in East Kazakhstan Region and northern Akmola Region, and the Kaskelen and Aksay hydro-engineering complexes near the commercial capital, Almaty.
With almost all areas of the country facing a flood threat, Khrapunov said that oil facilities in the west and mountain villages in the east were of particular concern.
“If temperatures rise and snow starts to melt intensively, rivers in East Kazakhstan Region could swell and flood villages located along mountain rivers in that region,” he told the government. Some US $5.6 million is needed for flood-prevention in East Kazakhstan Region, he said, while some $3.2 million is required to shore up the banks of Alakol Lake in the south-east on the Chinese border.
Flooding of the Syrdarya River displaced at least 1,500 people in southern Kazakhstan in February after the river burst its banks. There was no serious flooding last year, but in 2005 more than 500 people were evacuated from the banks of the Syrdarya. In 2004, floods displaced 2,000 people from areas around the river.
Some $8.2 million has been allocated from central government funds to resettle those living in areas frequently hit by flooding in the south, officials said in March.
jl/ar/jm
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
