300 military personnel sent from Astana to N Kazakhstan as region eyes full-fledged flood control measures
Prime minister of Kazakhstan, head of the republican flood control headquarters Olzhas Bektenov examined the floodplain of the Yessil River and the situation at the Sergeevskoye dam in North Kazakhstan region, Kazinform News Agency cites primeminister.kz.
Works are to be carried out to enhance dams in the suburban areas of Petropavlovsk city to prevent and mitigate flooding in case of overflow of the Yessil River.
The head of the Kazakh government was reported that the Sergeevskiy hydroelectric complex is running at full capacity, with the inflow of water recorded at the level of 6,017 cubic meters per second and the discharge of water at 4,720 cubic meters per second. Since its inception in 1969, the maximum water intake was recorded at 3,600 cubic meters per second.
Currently, the total volume of water at the dam stands at 1 billion 247 million cubic meters per second. Inflow and discharge of water have leveled at 4 billion 720 million cubic meters per second. Presently, the dam is 180% full. In total, water released has estimated at 500 million cubic meters per second.
According to the National Met Office Kazhydromet, the inflow of water may rise from 2,400 to 3,600 million cubic meters per second due to sharp increase in temperature and snow melting on April 6-12.
In this regard, upon the instruction of Bektenov, 300 military personnel of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan are to be send from Astana city to North Kazakhstan region to conduct full-fledged flood control measures and prevent distraction. 400 recruits of the Kazakhstani National Guard Academy and over 300 personnel of the military unit of the regional command Ortalyk of the National Guard of Kazakhstan are involved. An instruction was given to increase the number of military personnel sent to the flood-affected region.
It is worth to note that Kazakh defense minister Ruslan Zhakssylykov is currently in Kostanay region.
The President tasked to mobilize all forces to babble floods. We’ve sent around a thousand personnel of the defense ministry and the National Buard to North Kazakhstan region alone. Our task is to prevent destruction during overflows of the Yessil River. The Sergeevskoye dam is this full for the first time in its history, said Bektenov.
