site.btaSnowploughs, Volunteers Ensure Safe Conditions in Bulgaria After Snowfall

A total of 665 snowploughs are working on Tuesday across the country to ensure safe travel for drivers on the national road network in winter conditions. Due to snow removal, the movement of heavy goods vehicles is still restricted on part of the second- and third-class roads in some regions of the country.

Even though there is no reported snow falling on Tuesday, a partial state of emergency has been declared in Nedelino Municipality (Smolyan Region, South Bulgaria) due to interrupted electricity supply in three settlements, said Mayor Boyan Kehayov. Emergency teams are travelling with snowmobiles to the area to restore power.

Due to the interrupted electricity, the pumping station that provides the water supply to Izgrev and Elenka has also stopped working.  There is no water scarcity for now, as the resources of a water reservoir are being used. Even though the snow cover in the higher parts of Nedelino Municipality reached 60 centimetres, the roads are still passable.

Part of the road to the village of Gorno Lukovo (Haskovo Region, South Bulgaria) collapsed on Monday night, leaving the village with no connection to other settlements, said Ivaylovgrad Mayor Diana Ovcharova. She received a report about the situation from one of the residents in the village.

There are four people living permanently in the settlement, with three of them currently in the village. "We know there is a dip in the road, but we do not know where it is because we cannot get there," Gorno Lukovo resident Neli Rusinova told BTA. The Municipality was informed that the snowplough cannot reach the village precisely because of the missing part of the road.

An emergency team, which includes volunteers from Ivaylovgrad, will be send to the village to clear the route of the branches and trees that have fallen under the heavy snow and to build an alternative route to the village, Ovcharova said.

Tsarevo Municipality (Burgas Region, East Bulgaria) also reported that there is no electricity supply in three settlements in the municipality. Due to fallen trees, the passage of all cars on road II-99 in the section Bulgari - Gramatikovo - Malko Tarnovo has also been temporarily stopped, and traffic has been redirected on the third-class road III-907 Bosna - Vizica. Teams of the Road Infrastructure Agency and the electricity distribution company are on the ground and are working to eliminate the problems.