After the protests: Pleven begins drilling in search of water

Representatives of the Pleven Water Supply and Sewerage Company and the municipality, with the assistance of the Basin Directorate, are starting work to identify sites for new water drilling, and within the next week they will survey and clean all available water sources. These are part of the specific measures ordered by Deputy Regional Minister Veselina Terziyska during a crisis meeting in Pleven.

In order to replace the dilapidated water supply network, funding will be sought from Bulgarian Water Holding, and the municipality will redirect its projects from the municipal program to water supply infrastructure. In the long term, work will begin on the construction of the Cherni Osam dam.

The goal is for the municipality, the water operator, and the holding company to replace almost the entire internal water supply network within a few years, as was made clear at today's meeting," according to the press release from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.

The escalation of the problem, which has left Pleven under water restrictions for the past three years, has prompted residents to take to the streets in protest. Just a day ago, the National Assembly held an extraordinary meeting of the Environment Committee, at which MPs voted to create a "National Water Board" to coordinate the efforts of institutions in the fight against the water crisis.

During the debate, Regional Development Minister Ivan Ivanov pointed out that despite the good condition of the country's dams, the main problem in Pleven is the huge losses from the outdated network, which reach 70-80%. The data presented by him show that nearly 261,000 people across the country are affected by disrupted water supply. However, according to Ivanov and Environment Minister Manol Genov, there can be no question of a water crisis.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said that the government would initiate the preparation of a detailed development plan for the construction of the Cherni Osam dam, a project that has been under discussion for a long time but whose construction could take at least 10 years.

Translated with DeepL.