Problems in the city of Engels, located 1,000 km southeast of Moscow, have been ongoing since April 29. It was then that there was a serious failure of the main gravity collector in the sewage network.
The repair coincided with unusual, extremely heavy rainfall, which led to the flooding of the city.
As reported by Ukrainian National News, the courtyards and the lowest floors of the buildings were “flooded with a foul-smelling liquid.” The water supply to the taps was cut off and a state of emergency was declared in the city.
“Smelly water is everywhere”
Residents complain about the stench of feces throughout the city. “Smelly water is everywhere,” we read on social media, where users write about the “fecal apocalypse.”
Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being) issued recommendations that residents drink only bottled or boiled water.
Local authorities also call on people not to flush water into sinks or toilets so that impurities do not accumulate in the pipes and, consequently, lead to a wave of blockages that will be difficult to deal with even after the collector is repaired.
The services provided a supply of drinking water to residents, but they complain that the supplies were only provided at the site of the failure, although its effects are felt throughout the city.
– People are dissatisfied, they cannot satisfy even their basic, everyday needs – says one of the inhabitants of Engels, quoted by t-online.
As the website emphasizes, the accident in Engels could have been prevented. The modernization of the local sewage system was supposed to begin in 2018, but the renovation never started, and new buildings are still being connected to the overloaded infrastructure.
Repair work is ongoing, but the authorities have not announced an estimated completion date, although previously the failure was supposed to be resolved within three days.
