Flood disaster report,
PUBLIC Works and Transport Minister Tolga Atakan told TV viewers this week that political will to resolve the GirneLefkoşa Ciklos bend disaster was stymied by lack of funding and resources, but promised action following the completion of a police report.
He concurred with expert findings that average rainfall calculations during the last 50 years were out of date but stressed that no infrastructure could have handled the deluge on December 5.
Last month’s disastrous flooding that killed four people had been the end result of a process on the Girne-Lefkoşa road, including the blocking of a riverbed and the addition of a second carriageway, which dated back to the 1980s, he said, and the lack of trained personnel also cited in the technical report would be tackled this year.
Mr Atakan vowed to cut other expenditure in favour of an overall effort against pollution, including riverbed misuse, and to employ technical engineering solutions.
A Chamber of Civil Engineers technical report into the December 5 Ciklos bend tragedy, released on Thursday, noted an engineering fault in the design of culverts which was not based on technical data and left them unable to cope with torrential rain.
A spokesman for the ministry explained the recent road upgrade currently under the spotlight had only included foundations and asphalting, not the revision of road drainage infrastructure installed in the 1990s.
Chambers head Gürkan Yağcıoğlu reported that the project had not been submitted for their approval despite a request on May 21 last year.
The Highways Department was also not informed about the road construction works.
Mr Yağcıoğlu warned that the report had not been drawn up to be used as political ammunition, adding: “The main problem was the failure of water outlet design to drain the Boğazköy stream, which flooded the road.”
Construction engineer Hüsnü Coşan also cited culverts blocked by debris and branches and deficiencies in roadside crash barriers, while geotechnical engineer Abdullah Ekinci noted problematic roadside slopes and hydraulic engineers İbrahim Bay and Dr Akın Bertuğ found calculations had not taken previous and future episodes of torrential rain into account.
Mr Atakan said the Turkish Highways Department-financed project’s engineer had been interviewed and that works had begun shortly after he took office. Inspections had been carried out by the TRNC and Turkish Highways departments.
Retired Highways Department director Hasan Erduran claimed that flood basins capable of containing 3km2 of rain south of Ciklos and 1km2 to the north were full of earth, saying: “The pressure built up until there was a sudden and catastrophic overflow which blocked drainage with branches, mud and rubbish from the Dikmen picnic area.
“The culverts should have been five metres wide but measured three metres by two and basins should have been maintained and rubbish collected.
“During my term Lefkoşa streambeds were cleared and maintained, which saved the capital from worse damage, but my request to do the same in the Girne area was turned down in 2014.
“Ask the municipalities where construction rubble is dumped: it’s all in the riverbeds which have been raised and narrowed lower down where they should be at their widest.”