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To learn more about how we use and protect your personal data, please view our privacy policy was the hardest hit area during the June 2014 floods The tragedy is enormous; entire streets and houses have vanished I visited the area weeks after the disaster and the scenes remain apocalyptic shared with me his uncertainty about the future: "Half of the roof of my house has fallen apart The municipality offered me social housing but I refused because I have two children and living conditions are very poor Asparuhovo is home to a variety of minority groups including nearly 1000 Roma and 5000 Millet (Turkish for “people”; some Roma in Bulgaria consider them to be Roma The district’s tragedy tells the story not only of a natural disaster but also of longstanding social segregation in Bulgaria The amount of rainfall on June 19 was unprecedented Asparuhovo was flooded by a one-meter wave of water and mud There was no way the 4.5 km-square ravine in Asparuhovo could take so much water most of them owned by Roma and Millet families The municipality of Varna keeps quiet about this fact Following the flood, the municipality noted that 122 addresses were affected by the floods and asked families to evacuate their houses. According to Lili Makaveeva, director of the Roma-led civil society organization Integro Association at least 60 percent of these destroyed houses belong to the Roma and Millet “Are your houses illegal?” journalists repeatedly asked members of the Roma community on live broadcasts on the most popular TV channels It was the “Gypsy tree felling” and “illegally built houses” that had caused the disaster “Bulgarians would not enter the mahala,” Roma residents told me Television does not show the reality of what happens here.” Such one-sided reports sparked anti-Roma sentiment and shifted public attention from those who were really responsible: the Bulgarian government and local authorities Why had local authorities allowed for such houses to be built on the ravine The media scapegoated the Roma instead of highlighting the government’s inability to address the problems of minority groups in Bulgaria houses were built outside an industrial plan and on a dangerous ravine No one had warned the residents of the risks The majority of the Roma and Millet were evacuated and currently live with relatives or in social housing provided by the Varna municipality the mayor visited the Roma families for the first time He informed them that seven houses would be demolished and asked residents to evacuate the properties immediately three of seven have already been demolished Most residents complain about the lack of timely and regular communication from the municipality 55-year-old pensioner Ibriam Muharem’s house was identified for demolition by the municipality but without any guarantees for its future rebuilding and for his eight-member family:  The police and excavator came today [June 30] at 11am to demolish my house I asked them if they have an official municipal order ‘Why have you come to demolish my house?’ The policeman told me to shut up I pay electricity and water but they came to demolish my house without an official order The mayor promised compensation to the residents of the seven houses: 250 leva for three months’ rent or temporary social housing “I am secure but only for three months; after that I do not know what I will do,” explains Nikolov who also received an order to leave his house “The mayor said today that he will compensate us but we do not have written evidence or an order for what he says Tomorrow he can say that he did not promise that.” “No Bulgarian volunteers came to help us,” says Muharem “There is discrimination from the police and local authorities towards us.” Even though solidarity funds to help the victims were collected by volunteers throughout the country it seems that on the ground victims were not all treated as one Bulgarian volunteers helped only the flooded parts where Bulgarians lived The Roma were forced to make separate arrangements Integro Association and the National Network of Health Mediators organized Roma volunteers to help the community with water This differential treatment is a consequence of long years of Roma exclusion and segregation in Bulgaria Bulgarian authorities cannot afford to wait for another natural disaster to strike before they act Those affected require more information in relation to compensation There is a risk of more rain and more floods in the coming months Where will temporary dwellers move to then What will happen to those with houses in the ravine The floods in Bulgaria exposed in a dramatic way the decades-old unsustainable housing conditions of the Roma communities Yet the government has put forward no plan to address this And without efforts to deal with the issue of segregated housing further disasters and even deaths may continue and partners about how we’re working around the world to build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people Every year the Open Society Foundations give thousands of grants to groups and individuals that work on issues we focus on—promoting justice The Black Sea Region Basin Directorate (BSRBD) received the results from the examination of water samples taken on March 31 At all three locations where sampling was carried out a visible film on the surface of the water and a characteristic odor of petroleum products were detected The results for all three samples show the presence of petroleum products with their highest concentration in the third training wall area The values ​​for the remaining substances tested are below the limits of detection of the testing methods which indicates that there is no pollution with them Given that no coastal sources of pollution were identified during the inspection the presence of petroleum products can be attributed to a sea-based source sea beaches were also visited in the “St Asparuhovo district; the “Karantina” beach Asparuhovo district; the "South Beach" - North of the breakwater as well as the area of ​​the Old and New Channels connecting the Varna Lake with the Black Sea No visible pollution of sea waters and beaches has been established in the listed areas No coastal sources of pollution have been identified Following media publications about the presence of fuel oil pellets in the area of ​​the "Galata" district and the "Fichoza" area an immediate joint inspection was carried out on April 1 by experts from the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Varna Along the beach strip of "Chernomorets" beach single pieces resembling oil products were found only one small area with single pieces resembling oil products was found two samples of sea water were taken by the Regional Laboratory (RL) - Varna at the Executive Agency for the Environment - one from the "Galata" district - "Fichoza" beach and one from the "Rakitnika" area - the "Chernomorets-South" beach of the sea coast South of Cape Galata today and the following days Heavy rain in Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Varna on Thursday afternoon flooded the town 12 people were found dead and 4 people are reported missing The situation is most serious in the district of Asparuhovo the floodwaters obliterated the district and carried along and upturned hundreds of cars According to the city councillor Radoslav Koev Asparuhovo was hit by a flash flood from the ridge above the district The water flooded homes and public buildings and there are streets and homes swamped in mud "Most likely there are drowned people," Koev said The city boulevards and streets have been turned into rivers and the pedestrian underpasses are completely flooded the entire sections of Varna have no electricity and landlines and cell phones in certain areas are out of order Public transport is also seriously disrupted  Rainstorms, floods plunge China into emergency response Typhoon Hagibis forces 16,000 to evacuate Shantou World Refugee Day special: a glimpse of refugees' life BG | EN The outpouring of 3 million cubic meters of fecal water in Varna Lake after the accident with the underwater pipeline that connects the neighborhoods “Asparuhovo” and “Galata” with the waste water treatment plant in the village of Topoli has become one of the landmark news of 2020 Not only because of the enormous pollution but also because for eight months the authorities were hiding from the society what was happening without even taking the necessary measures said in September (about a year after the pipe was broken) that the pipeline was already connected to the Topoli waste water treatment plant The pollution of Varna Lake with wastewater from the dirty canals of two neighborhoods – “Asparuhovo” and “Galata” as well as from the villa areas around them has been stopped it was announced on September 18 by the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW) in Varna After an inspection carried out at the request of ViK – Varna it was found that the sewage pumping station “Asparuhovo” was restored to normal operation and wastewater is transported to the treatment plant in the village of Topoli through the repired pipeline across the lake the pipe had not yet been buried and the deputy mayor promised that this will be done by November 30th It is already the mid of December and there is still no answer to the question whether the “fecal saga” of Varna will finish this year or it will continue in the next – 2021 Intention to seek an answer to this question under the Access to Information Act was stated some time ago by the Varna municipal councilor with a strong civil position Stella Nikolova also doubted whether she would get an answer to her questions given the failed earlier attempts to do so In the spring of this year it became clear that the authorities had hidden from the public information about a broken pipe months ago through which wastewater passes from the dirty canals of Asparuhovo and Galata and the villa areas around them Authorities understood about the accident in August 2019 This provoked the protests of citizens in front of the Municipal building and the councilors from “Democratic Bulgaria” demanded the convening of an extraordinary session of the Municipal Council – Varna and it was only in July when a meeting of the environmental commission was held in which the municipal councilors and citizens were explained that nothing terrible had happened according to the local health inspectorate even on the beach of “Asparuhovo” has excellent indicators despite the spilled 3 million cubic meters of fecal water but the responsible agencies said it was not faecal water but proliferating algae that reduced oxygen levels in the water thanks to the “good” environment they found in it For the “emergency” repair of the pipe started in May and assigned to “Hydrostroy” and redirected by them to “Hydroremont” and the Mayor of Varna Ivan Portnih promised that it would be completed within 45 days although the term stipulated in the contract was 3 months In the middle of the summer it became clear that the Russian digger will dig the trench in which the pipe should be buried and therefore the repair will be delayed and the deputy mayor said that so far BGN 390 thousand of these 1.3 million were paid for the pipe the prosecutor’s office is still investigating the combined 4 files on the fecal tube case and has not found anyone to blame for what happened „За истината“ спазва Eтичния кодекс на българските медии. За нас | Контакти | Подаване на сигнал | Дарения | Партньори | Условия за ползване | Политика за бисквитките „За истината“ © 2024. Някои права запазени • Severe weather, including heavy rainfall, winds and hail, affected Bulgaria over 18-20 June. As a consequence, flash floods and stream overflow caused casualties, damage and evacuations in the east and north-east of the country. Houses have been flooded and dozens of vehicles swept away, while electricity outages and road closures have also been reported. • In Dobrich, 14 rescue units are operating, in an attempt to rescue people trapped by floodwaters. • In Veliko Tarnovo, the river Yantra exceeded its flood level, trigering a State of Emergency in the city itself, as well as in four nearby villages and in Dryanovo, in the neighbouring province of Gabrovo. • The provinces of Targovishte, Burgas, Yambol, Sofia and Montana have also been affected by heavy rainfall, however to a lower degree. • Bulgarian National Authorities (DG Fire Safety and Civil Protection) have deployed rescue units throughout the affected areas and are fully engaged in response operations. The ERCC is monitoring the progress of the situation and is in close contact with the Bulgarian Civil Protection. My TimesLatestVideoInteresting contentsTaboola 후원링크 dozens of Bulgarian villages were submerged forever underwater and their inhabitants were forcibly evicted from their land The communist government started the mass construction of dams almost nothing is known about these bits of Bulgarian land left at the bottom of the dams the sad ruins of churches or cemeteries still stick out above the water giving a sense of sadness and irretrievable loss What was the fate of these villages and what happened to their inhabitants A team of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is following the traces of Bulgaria's Sunken Heritage to lift the veil of the past during the construction of which the inhabitants of more than 60 villages and smaller settlements were displaced Most of thee villages were located in mountain regions moving to better-off regions meant modernization and a chance for a better life but sometimes the compensation was not fair "We have collected stories about how people did not want to leave how they did not believe that the water would really reach their house and they stood until the water surrounded their homes This happened for example in one of the villages in the Iskar dam And we have information about a family that refused to leave their village during the construction of the Yovkovtsi dam and settled in a huge wine barrel as all the houses were destroyed before they were forcibly evicted from there," Lina Gergova says People also dismantled their houses themselves in order to use the building materials somewhere else Then bulldozers leveled the bottom of the future dam "The explanation for not destroying some churches was more pragmatic - there was no one to give compensation to and then make the owners destroy the buildings themselves But there were also cases when churches were blown up such as the one in the village of Yovkovtsi in the dam of the same name or the church in the village of Darets in the Studen Kladenets dam Sometimes people collected the remains of their beloved ones and moved them from the cemeteries the residents of Zhrebchevo dug up the bones collected them in an ossuary and buried it near a motel the memorial plaque disappeared and what happened to the ossuary is unknown," Dr Some of the villages were located along the banks of the dams under construction so the authorities evicted people for sanitary and transport reasons "It is very sad that villages were destroyed but we must not forget the huge contribution of the dams but also for the electrification of Bulgaria This is exactly what people were told - that they should sacrifice themselves for the common good There were even such propaganda songs that were being spread on the principle of folklore about the benefits of the Studen Kladenets dam and how nice it would be when people have a dam and water for everyone," Lina Gergova says "You must have strong faith and pray - then the saint will help you and carry your prayer to God," says Father Georgi Markov of the Church of St Athanasius the Great in Gorni Lozen near Sofia He adds that he has often witnessed the miracles of St. marks 1160 years since the baptism of our Bulgarian people into the Orthodox faith and 1170 years since the creation of the Bulgarian alphabet and Slavic literature the Varna and Veliki Preslav Bishopric Metropolis. Bulgaria celebrates 149 years since the April Uprising – an event that led to the liberation of Bulgaria after almost five centuries of Ottoman rule we must not forget that every participant in the April. english@bnr.bg HOT: » What kind of news would you like to see more of? Bulgarian police have detained one of the most wanted men in Lithuania after he was found living in Bulgaria under a fake identity was arrested in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort Kranevo after an international operation which involved British the Bulgarian Interior Ministry reported late Monday 52-year-old Daktaras is "a leading mafia figure in the Baltic state" and "an extremely dangerous criminal" according to a Ministry statement who lived in Bulgaria under a fake identity was sought by Lithuanian authorities for some 30 murders as well as kidnappings drugs trafficking and illegal arms possession Bulgarian authorities have notified their Lithuanian colleagues about the arrest and were preparing to extradite Daktaras We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria An obligatory administrative sanction has been issued stopping the construction works near Bulgaria's southern Black Sea beach of Coral Raging waters have taken away entire roads plumbing and electric cables in Asparuhovo district in the Black Sea city of Varna Petar Garbuzov from Varna Municipality announced Citizens of Bulgarian coastal city of Varna Mario Kutzarov and Ivan Tzvetanov proved to be the best team at the seventh Beach Volley competition for amateurs in summer 2013 A huge landslide has been activated on the northern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria in the area between the Golden Sands resort and the town of Kranevo An 18-year-old girl who had been reported missing in Haskovo has been found dead A 33-year-old man from the village of Semchinovo has been taken into custody by the police for physically assaulting a 10-year-old child A 12-year-old boy from Lukovit has been hospitalized with two broken arms and head injuries after reportedly being assaulted and thrown from a bridge the director of the Plovdiv Customs Office was arrested earlier today for allegedly facilitating a new smuggling route for cigarettes The Sofia Police has launched a targeted operation against drivers of electric scooters and electric motorbikes who engage in reckless behavior in the city's central areas opened fire with a gas pistol near a kindergarten in Sofia's Lyulin district Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase The Minister of Environment and Water Rositsa Karamfilova issued orders for the declaration of four more protected areas from the “Natura 2000” network for the conservation of natural habitats and wild flora and fauna on the basis of Article 12 These are BG0000503 “Lom River” The “Lom River” protected area covers an area of 17 227,142 decares and is located in the lands of the villages of Lom The protected area “Timok” covers an area of 4 576,517 decares and is located in the lands of the village of Baley The protected area “Ogosta River” covers a territory of 13 914,271 decares and is located in the lands of villages of Butan Protected area “Novo Selo” covers a territory of 8 140,117 decares and is located in the lands of the villages of Florentin The protected areas are declared for the protection and maintenance of the types of natural habitats their populations and distribution within the boundaries of the areas to achieve and maintain a favourable conservation status in the respective biogeographical region The orders declaring the protected areas includes specific prohibitions on certain activities The four orders are to be promulgated in the State Gazette, after which they will be publicly available on the website of the Information System for Protected Areas of the Natura 2000 Ecological Network https://natura2000.egov.bg/.