Members of the Regional Council in Mykolaiv discussed the problem of flooding at the stadium in the Korabelnyi district

The football pitch at Sports School №5 in Mykolaiv has been flooded for two months now. Photo: NikVesti

Members of the Mykolaiv Regional Council have stated that the flooding of the Sports School № 5 stadium in the Korabelnyi district, which is preventing children from training properly, may be linked to water discharges into the Vitovka River. The water utility is now expected to provide a technical solution to the problem.

This was discussed at a meeting of the relevant regional council committee on 22 May, according to NikVesti.

The committee chair, Yevhen Horburov, showed the councillors a video of the flooded stadium at Sports School №5 in the Korabelnyi district and emphasised that, due to the flooding, the children have effectively lost the opportunity to train properly. In the footage, local residents say that the pitch has turned into a lake.

«The children have nowhere to train. The canal and the Vitovka River simply burst their banks when the water utility discharges water, and all the water flows here. This is no longer a stadium, but a swamp. I don’t know where the children are training now. It’s empty here. Water, ducks and seagulls are swimming, and herons sometimes fly in,» the video states.

The head of the regional sports department, Mykhailo Nikolaiev, stated that the problem is long-standing and linked to the area being flooded by groundwater.

«This stadium has never been brought up to standard for a simple reason. They’re right — this happens every spring (the flooding of the stadium, — note). The groundwater rises, and this issue isn’t being resolved. Even Valentyn Haidarzhy, when he was deputy mayor coordinating housing and communal services, said that it was impossible to resolve,» he said.

In addition, Mykhailo Nikolaev noted in response that attempts had already been made to install a drainage system near the stadium of Sports School №5.

«They tried to install a drainage system there even earlier,» he said.

The committee chair continued by saying that the problem had remained unsolved for many years and expressed hope for technical solutions from «Mykolaivvodokanal».

«I think that perhaps the new head of the water utility will also come up with some technical solution to prevent this from happening. This is a stadium in one of the major residential areas,» said Yevhen Horburov.

In Mykolaiv, the football pitch at Sports School №5 has been flooded for two months. Photo: NikVesti

The football pitch at Sports School №5 in Mykolaiv has been flooded for two months. Photo: NikVesti

As a reminder, Andrii Alifanov, director of Sports School №5, previously explained that the flooding of the stadium is a systemic problem due to the lack of drainage and the silted-up bed of the Vitovka River. According to him, the situation has worsened this year due to additional water discharges, and the children’s training sessions have had to be moved to a reserve pitch.