site.btaBuilt-Up River in Elenite Resort Is in Centre of Controversy after Deadly Floods, Environment Minister Orders Probe

Most of what used to be a river bed in the Elenite resort on the Black Sea has been built-up, Environment and Water Minister Manol Genov said on Bulgarian National Television Monday. His TV appearance was prompted by deadly floods in Elenite which severely damaged infrastructure and claimed four victims on October 3, of.

On October 3, at a briefing in the Council of Ministers, Genov said that there was no river in the Elenite area, technically speaking. “The heavy rainfall caused the dry channel to overflow. There is no such thing as a river [in Elenite], technically speaking. Just a dry channel and a large amount of rain water dumped on Elenite in a very short time,” he said. At the same date, the Minister ordered the Black Sea Basin Directorate to conduct an urgent probe into whether construction development in the Elenite resort was coordinated with the Directorate. 

Тhe University Center for Geospatial Research and Technologies at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia has published a map on Facebook showing that a river runs through Elenite, with a residential complex built in the middle of its course. In the water management information system of Genov’s Ministry, the river appears on the map under the name Drashtela River, with the identification number BG2SE500R012. It is also listed on the website of Nessebar Municipality under the Environment Management section, where it is noted that the river flows into the Black Sea near the resort village of Elenite. The river is also known as Kozluka.

The Minister said that it is prohibited to build on public state property, which all rivers are, and the question is how this happened. According to him, many institutions coordinate these constructions. “So far, our checks in the register of the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water have revealed only one construction approval, dating back to around 2006, for a wastewater treatment plant,” he added. 

“I expect to receive a report by this afternoon on whether all the sites have been approved by the inspectorate and under what conditions,” the Minister said. He noted that it is legally permissible to cover a water body, but it is not allowed to build on that covering.

Genov stressed that building on dry channels is unacceptable, adding that he does not know the owners of the structures there and has not checked the commercial register. According to him, the institutions have failed to do their job. “Nature has retaliated for greed and irresponsibility,” Genov said.