The funding and projects that were done or are “running” in Thessaly were presented to the Parliament by the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Nikos Tahiaosin the context of parliamentary control.

The deputy minister answered opposition MPs, three times in a row, about the disaster in Thessaly, the flood control, the evacuation of settlements and 112, Civil Protection and Lake Karla, for which he noted that its reconstitution could become “from a problem to a solution”.

The anti-flood works

There are a lot of projects that have been attributed to use. And indeed the flood prevention works were carried out by the Region, just as the restoration works were carried out by the Ministry of Infrastructure”, said the Deputy Minister. answering a relevant topical question of Larisa MP of SYRIZA Vassilis Kokkalis. “I must tell you that of the projects carried out by the Ministry of Infrastructure, not a single one of the ones we have been able to visit so far has failed. There are some that we have not visited, because they are either under portable materials or under water. These will be checked and of course if there is a problem, you know, that they will be fixed,” said Mr Nikos Tahiaos and added: “Direct assignments, as you say, from the Region were not made. The possibility, according to the legislation of “Ianos”, to make an award, with an invitation for negotiation, was given to the Ministry of Infrastructure. And indeed after a competition between two companies, with invitations, the work of “Jan” was commissioned. The Region carried out its projects based on the procedures of Law 4412″, said the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.

“After “Ianos” both the prime minister and the regional governor – the regional governor controlled by the Justice, announced anti-flood shielding of Thessaly. Today, the government must say which projects were assigned to the Region of Thessaly, which amounts were granted to the Region of Thessaly and to the municipalities, for the restoration of infrastructure and networks, and which of them have been implemented”, SYRIZA MP Vassilis Kokkalis had stated earlier. As the MP was quick to point out, “the government is leaking, not directly, that all the responsibility for the anti-flood defense lies with the Region of Thessaly. The Region of Thessaly says that works were done, but the phenomenon was intense, it was unprecedented” but the phenomenon was not unprecedented because “everything was written in the flood risk management plans”.

“It was an unprecedented phenomenon. I’ll repeat the number: Eight billion cubic meters of water opened the heavens and fell on Thessaly. It is an unmanageable phenomenon,” said the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and added: “Flooding would definitely happen. Now, which village would be flooded, whether a village would be spared or whether another village would be flooded, that is a matter which is really a matter of management and for which there were obviously no scenarios. And there were no scripts, because this event was unpredictable. When we design projects, we design for what we call a “return period,” and we obviously cannot design projects with a return period of three hundred years. In other words, we cannot consider that an event, which happens every three hundred years, is the measure of public investment, either for the flood protection of an area or of course even for the construction of projects”.

SYRIZA MP Vassilis Kokkalis he underlined however that flood risk management plans existed, are mandatory for member states and contain maps of catchment areas, description of floods. These projects, as he noted, were voted in 2018. “What is the public Authority for the implementation and monitoring of flood risk management plans? The Region. Can flood risk management plans predict floods? Yes, in conjunction with the relevant agencies -Observatory, Meteorological Service- they can have an effective support in predicting with a high probability the risks of flooding. Also, the faithful implementation of the flood risk management plans leads to the avoidance of reducing the consequences of the flood,” said Mr. Kokkalis and added: “The flood risk management plans existed since 2018 and should have been updated and, because they were not updated, the European Union twice called us and said: ‘Gentlemen, why don’t you update and implement the flood risk management plans?'” the MP said.

“If you think that the quantities of water that filled a Karla bigger than the Karla we drained in 1962 were amounts that were manageable or even predictable, then it will be a big mistake,” replied the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and added: “Obviously , there were plans to flood. If you look at the Meteo forecasts of the week of the event, half of Eastern Greece was at risk of flooding. Which village will be evacuated? Which village would we be talking about?”

112 and the embankments

The causes of the disaster and what happened or did not happen before it were also mentioned PASOK MP Evangelia Liakoulis. “Who is a liar? Is Mr. Mitsotakis a liar? Are Mr. Agorastos and some mayors liars? Because you can’t all tell the truth. You can’t say contradictory things to each other and we act like we don’t understand”, said Evangelia Liakoulis, addressing the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and added: “Look. I put my patent leather shoes in the mud and saw not from the drones, but what is really happening in this unspeakable national tragedy. And we did not come to popularize the national delegation. No one managed to protect the place, the people. Mr. Mitsotakis from the TIF said that the assessment of whether the Region and Mr. Agorastos did well will take place on the night of the elections. Truth; Then you will judge your governor? Won’t you tell us who is responsible for the projects? Won’t you tell us who was really responsible for creating a protection line for the settlement that was lost in the mud, the Metamorphosis or the Salvation of the Killeler Municipality? It is not your government’s responsibility to say why your infamous 112 was not called, which we give you. Why didn’t you call 112 in Sotirio? Why Metamorphosis? Wasn’t it your responsibility? Why did you put in the graders and knock down the embankments? Whose responsibility? Under the responsibility of the regional governor, the mayor, yours? Are you not a staff state? You show up while the government is doing 1.2 billion flood works in Thessaly and the regional governor tells you he got less than 100 million for flood works. Who is the liar?’

“If there is indeed a prosecutor’s investigation, which touches on Mr. Agorastos, to whom you keep referring, let the prosecutor’s investigation flow, but I have not seen the investigation being personalized. The investigation has been based on rumours, it has been based on strange testimonies, it has been based on disputes between political actors of the Prefecture of Larissa and it has a lot to investigate and a lot to look for”, said the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and continued: “I too wonder why Sotirio flooded. I also wonder why there are embankments in which indeed there has been human intervention, but that human intervention is not now. Nor am I sure that it is the human intervention of a public Authority, any more than I am at all sure that carried materials were found in streams which were unjustifiably there, because some wanted to save water to be able to irrigate their fields in the summer, and it all backfired ».

In relation to 112, Mr. Tachiaos he emphasized that the evacuation order is given by the mayor. “Because you point to the government, you point to Agorastos, you point to everyone – you must know that based on civil protection plans, the order to evacuate the settlements is given by the mayor. The order is given by the mayor,” said the deputy minister and added: “The plans of the civil protection were largely followed. Civil protection I will not say that it worked exemplary – obviously, it did not work exemplary because it was impossible under the conditions under which we operated in those days – but a huge effort was made which brought the rescue of many people and which today brings conditions of rehabilitation of the humanitarian crisis that actually occurred in the region”.

New carrier

The deputy minister also referred to the water management body that will be created in Thessaly. “The key is that in the water management of Thessaly, whether we are talking about irrigation, whether we are talking about the hydroelectric projects that can be combined, or whether we are talking about flood protection, there must be a holistic approach. Who will do this holistic placement? This body announced by Mr. Mitsotakis”, said Nikos Tachiaos and informed that a committee has already been set up, led by the two general secretaries of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Infrastructure, to elaborate the legislative framework that will govern its establishment and operation new entity, which “will be able to strategically manage the waters of Thessaly and carry out projects”.

“Our country has been delayed in anti-flood planning and is being abandoned by the European Union, as we learned after the Tempi tragedy in terms of remote control,” said Greek Solution MP Vassilis Viliardos and added: “We believe, therefore, that the tragedy is due largely to the lack of collective planning and equipment, as demonstrated by the destruction of flood defenses and the lack of means of rescue.’ Mr. Viliardos asked to be informed “at what stage is the planning of the Pyli and Mouzakio dams, as well as the accompanying works” while also referring to Acheloos.

“The Mouzaki dam is planned to be built right on the Pamisos river, right above the village and you know it has three different scenarios of the reservoir. All three of these scenarios are not easy scenarios,” replied the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and added: “Yes, under the pressure of things, it was indicated to Mr. Mitsotakis that the Mouzaki dam would really be a solution, but the Mouzaki dam from alone as a flood protection project is not designed. It is a project that even to fill the reservoir needs to take water from the Gate”.

Carla, a problem can become a solution

In the context of his answer, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport also referred to Lake Karla. “Carla has been reinstated. She can’t stay like this, she has to change. It must either exist as a lake or be drained to prevent it from becoming a marsh. We have to decide how we will manage it and how it will fit into the Thessaly water management model, which will be done by the organization I mentioned earlier”, said Nikos Tachiaos and noted: “If this lake allows us to come tomorrow and to bring water back – and there are such passages, there is the S1 tunnel and the Gusbasaniotis, a stream in Larissa – in the plain of Thessaly and especially in Larissa where the plain has really dried up, the water table has dropped too much, this could be a solution. In all this tragedy, nature may have given us ways and exits that we could not have predicted.”