The sewer near «Velam» in Mykolaiv has remained unfinished for 50 years, but it now needs to be renovated

The sewer in the Inhulskyi district needs to be reconstructed. Illustrative photo: NikVesti

The sewer in the Inhulskyi district, near the «Velam» factory in Mykolaiv, is over 50 years old. Although it has not been fully completed, some sections have already fallen into disrepair. At present, there is no risk of flooding in residential buildings, but the sewer needs to be reconstructed.

This was stated by Vitalii Shevchenko, director of the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig», on the «Dialogue» programme on TRK «MART».

According to Vitalii Shevchenko, there is a problem with the sewer in the Inhulskyi district. The structure has been inspected from start to finish — all the way to the Inhul River. However, in the sections where private houses have been built, heavy machinery cannot access the site.

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«There are several sections that were either left unfinished or were damaged at some point. And they were damaged in places where heavy machinery cannot currently access, because there are areas that have been built on by the private sector,» said the head of ELU.

As an example, he cited pipes that lie partly underground and partly on the surface, covered by large amounts of rubbish from the areas around the houses.

«In other words, we’re not talking about 50 centimetres or a metre; in some sections, the depth is approximately 7–8 metres. And in order to rebuild it now, we need to bring in heavy machinery, dig up the section that has been filled with rubbish, and bring that structurally incomplete section up to standard so that it works,» explained Vitalii Shevchenko.

As he pointed out, nobody has worked on the sewer since it was first laid in the 1970s.

«In other words, since the 1970s, it was never properly completed; it was abandoned and has remained in that state ever since. Part of it has fallen into disrepair over time, whilst other parts are simply unfinished. It’s more or less intact along the stretch from the Kherson Highway right up to the end of the car co-operative. Beyond that, it’s a complete disaster,» said the head of ELU.

Vitalii Shevchenko, Director of the ‘ELU Avtodorig’ municipal enterprise. Screenshot from a broadcast on TRK ‘MART’

Vitalii Shevchenko noted that the company, as the maintainer of the drainage systems, had proposed options at meetings with the Department of Municipal Services (Housing and Communal Services, — note), the district administration and residents. However, these options involve major construction works.

«This is major construction work, and it is the responsibility of the Housing and Communal Services Department, as the contracting authority, to oversee it. In other words, it involves the design phase, followed by construction, then commissioning, and finally handover to us as the entity responsible for maintaining the assets. “This is because the equipment we currently have does not allow us to construct such large collectors,» said Vitalii Shevchenko.

According to him, following a series of meetings, the Department of Municipal Services approached the design consultants. However, progress on this matter has stalled for the time being, as funding is required for the design and construction work. At the same time, Vitalii Shevchenko believes there is currently no risk of flooding in these buildings.

«But as for there being a problem there that could cause these houses to flood, I do not see it at the moment, because this sewer has been in place for just over 50 years and in 50 years no one has ever been flooded there. If flooding does occur, it is, for example, in those private plots that were either built on without authorisation or, in certain years, were extended beyond the permitted building zone of the plot itself. So at the moment I don’t see a disaster there, but this work needs to be done because, firstly, it’s about the environment, and secondly, it’s about keeping our city clean — on the roads and in the areas from which the sewer collects water,» said the director of the Environmental Services Department.

As a reminder, in Mykolaiv, work is also underway to clear the drainage channel on Industrialna Street, which has not been maintained for around 40 years. The work involves fully opening up the channel and gradually clearing it of silt and mud.

In addition, last year, municipal workers cleared around 108 tonnes of rubbish from the drainage channel on Tsentralnyi Avenue in the «Dormashyna» area. This location remains one of the most problematic in the city.

In particular, at the end of May, following a heavy downpour, several streets were flooded, but the worst flooding was recorded near the «Dormashyna» bus stop, close to the ATB supermarket. There, the water flooded the carriageway and around 20 parked cars.

The Mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, and the head of the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig», Vitalii Shevchenko, conducted an inspection of the main storm drain №4 in the «Dormashyna» area together with journalists.