A collapsed sewerage system and an acute
water crisis are causing misery to the residents of
Kharkov, Ukraine's 2nd
largest city. Up to 200,000
cubic metres of untreated
sewage has been pouring
daily into the 3 rivers running through the city. Add to
this the long lines for water,
and the picture of a break-down in basic infrastructure
is complete in this former
state of the Soviet republic.
To tide over the unprecedented situation, many residents in this city of 1.5 million responded to a recent
appeal by local authorities to
leave town for country
dachas until the water supply
was resumed. "When the system was built, we simply did
not foresee this. Our equipment is old and inadequate,'
explains Viktor Gaidarzh.
head of the city's civil
defense administration.
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