Boiler breakdown left thousands in the cold
The regional heating system must be modernized and alternative sources of power applied, Arkhangelsk Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk underlines. This week, more than 7000 people were left without heating in minus 30 following the collapse of a local boiler.
The people of Nyandoma, a village located about 350 km south of Arkhangelsk city, were left without heating as the local boiler collapsed. Temperatures in the area were as low as minus 30 and the situation looked increasingly worrisome for about 7000 people.
In a meeting with Premier Vladimir Putin on Monday, Minister of Emergency Situation Sergei Shoigu and Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin confirmed that the local heating system is now being restored and that both social institutions and people’s homes are again being heated, the press service of the prime minister states.
The local company responsible for the boilers in Nyandoma has now been charged by regional prosecutors, Dvinainform.ru reports.
The heating breakdown also made Vladimir Putin call regional Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk. The premier demanded that the governor present a report on the situation and that “regional and local authorities must give far more attention to this problem”.
The governor responded that his regional administration is taking measures to improve the regional heating system. Within five years, the regional boilers will no longer work on coal like today, but on alternative fuel, Mikhalchuk stressed. The transformation of the heating system will enable the region to save more than two billion RUB of budget money, Regnum reports.
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Arkhangelsk Oblast today depends on coal and heating oil acquired from other regions. The regional administration intends to boost heating based on bio waste from the forestry industry, as well as to accelerate regional gasification.
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