Аннотация: A celebration of the 2019 New Year with pleasant mood; the Bureya engineering operation and the Sarez one. A historical essay.
A celebration of the 2019 New Year with pleasant mood; the Bureya engineering operation and the Sarez one. A historical essay.
'KHABAROVSK, May 17 [2021]. / TASS /. The water level in the Amur River decreased with the end of the ice drift, the water left all previously flooded houses in the settlements of the Khabarovsk Krai. " (https://tass.ru/proisshestviya/11386387) [unofficial translation]
So, we are informed that the flood in the Khabarovsk Krai has ended, and the spring flood passed relatively well.
Hence, the conclusion follows: the work carried out by the military personnel and civilians in the winter of 2019, to restore the normal hydrological regime of the Bureya reservoir, yielded a positive result.
The work was carried out in a deserted area, in windy weather, during winter Siberian frosts (30 - 40 degrees below zero Celsius). The emphasis was placed on blasting operations (but not only these works were performed, but also many, many others). Some of the work was carried out in cold river water.
Despite the huge amount of various risks, no information about anyone's death (from among the participants in the engineering operation) has been published. From this we can suppose that there were no died during the Bureya engineering operation.
The floods on the Bureya River in 2019, 2020, 2021 went relatively well.
What could be the consequences if the Bureya engineering operation had not been carried out quickly and efficiently in the shortest, most favorable for work, period of time? (The operation could have been started earlier. But it might have been problematic to successfully complete it at a positive temperature).
Firstly, forecasts were made about the possibility of flooding almost the entire Verkhnebureinsky district of the Khabarovsk Krai (together with settlements and some strategic objects).
Secondly, recent events in India have shown how bursting streams of escaping water are sweeping away hydroelectric power plants and dams.
Thirdly, we may recall the 1986 Chernobyl disaster with its international and domestic political consequences. From the site of the spontaneous dam on the Bureya River to the border with China - 300 km. Approximately, according to rough estimates, the wave traveled the same distance (if not more) during the recent events in India (there was no risk of harm to the territory of a foreign state in the Indian situation).
Initial information about the events on the Bureya River appeared in mid-December 2018.
However, the newly elected governor of Khabarovsk Krai Sergei Furgal spent the some days before the New Year Holiday in Moscow. But, the blissful atmosphere did not last long. At first, the media did not react very actively to information about the events on the Bureya River. But there was news about the destruction of an entrance in an apartment building in the province. This news dominated for almost a week.
In general, complacency was a wrong position.
From about January 10, 2019 (the beginning of the Bureya engineering operation) to May 7, 2019 (destruction under the influence of natural causes of the remains of a spontaneous dam; upstream of this dam there was a sharp, obvious decrease in the river water level), the population of Russia and of the world watched the events on the Bureya River tensely.
What is appropriate to recall after the effectiveness of the heroic and skillful work to restore the normal hydrological regime of the Bureya reservoir became obvious?
1. The inappropriateness of complacency and political passivity. Sergei Furgal helped in solving the problem as best he could - but only after the command was given at the level of the federal center ... Water was accumulating above the spontaneous dam, threatened to flood part of the Khabarovsk Krai and some strategic objects (and in an unfavorable scenario, to destroy two hydroelectric power plants (with their structures) and to reach the Chinese territory). These days, the newly elected governor leaves the region for the capital without any loud statements (Where is the call: "Khabarovsk Krai is in danger!"?).
2. There is no widely available information on the rewarding by state awards of military personnel and civilians who participated in the unique operation. Sergei Furgal himself, as a participant in the events, perhaps - in the middle of a long list - is worthy of some state award (third level) of the third degree.
3. The experience and skills of the participants in the Bureya engineering operation were not used to solve the problem of Lake Sarez.
Meanwhile, the recent events on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan show that complacency is a slippery position. Wouldn't it be better for Russia to show a forethought than to suffer (in the event of an unfavorable scenario) from a huge headache?
"And Russia in case of an adverse turn of events should act as some kind of "fire brigade" once again ... Russia in this estimated (probable) adverse case "OF COURSE" will not be able to stand aside ... With all the pleasant, following from here, consequences ...
So it's useful to glance a little ahead ... Of course, forcibly it is not possible to force anybody ... But, at adverse turn of events, Russia will have the moral right not to hang up on herself all "delights" and "pleasures" of potentially possible succession of events ..." ([DCCCXXVII.] The Story about interest in the Bureya theme on May 17, 2019) ...