Mudflow threat in Almaty remains: scientist

Head of the Institute of Geography Akhmetkal Medeu does not rule out the possibility of a mudflow bursting into Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, Tengrinews reports citing TV7.

According to the scientist, who is among the principal investigators of floods in Kazakhstan, this may be caused by mountain lake №6 located high in the mountains near Almaty.

He recalled the recent mudflow in Talgar. There the water of a moraine lake had been collecting for years in underground channels. And in the end the water found its way out by "drilling" an underground canal.

Medeu said that the soil under lake №6 is nothing but a blind spot.

“The soil should be examined together with the reservoirs. [In our case], they are not [being examined], of course. Due to the lack of funding we were not able to perform this work,” he said.

Medeu claimed he had circumstantial evidence to confirm that there were underground canals filled with water under lake №6: the water has been regularly disappeared somewhere from the basin.

The expert said that two years ago his Institute conducted a detailed study, including that of the soil, in the gorge of the Lesser Almaty river, one of the rivers that flows through the city of Almaty. They mapped the area threatened by the possible mudflow following the example of developed Western countries. However, the work eventually froze because of lack of funding.

in the meanwhile, experts from state-run company KazSeleZaschita that deals with all the mud low related issues in Kazakhstan see to reason to worry about lake No6, which, in their words, is under control day and night. "This is the third year we have seen the basin drained completely by springtime. Therefore, at this point there is no threat," the agency employee Adilkhair Ishanov said.

By Dinara Urazova