Friday, February 10, 2006

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Race to restore heat to frozen Ukrainian city

· Record freeze knocks out ageing power system
· Thousands are left to shiver in 'ice age' misery

Yuras Karmanau, Associated Press in Alchevsk
Saturday February 11, 2006
The Guardian


Maria Sutkovska has been living in her black cap, several woolly jumpers and a bulky coat since a breakdown in a communal heating system nearly three weeks ago plunged about 60,000 people in her eastern Ukrainian city into what they are calling "the ice age".
"At night, I'm scared that I'll die from the cold," said the 68-year-old pensioner, who lives alone in a flat where the temperature is a bone-chilling 3C (37F).


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The breakdown in Alchevsk's heating system happened on January 22 during a cold snap when temperatures plunged to a record low of -38C. Some of the pipes used to pump hot water from a central power plant froze and fractured, cutting off many homes, schools and municipal buildings. The breakdown was unprecedented even in this former Soviet republic, where ageing communal power systems suffer frequent problems, particularly when forced into overdrive.
An army of repair workers has been working round-the-clock to get the heat back on since President Viktor Yushchenko visited last week. But several thousand residents remained shivering in unheated flats yesterday, warmed primarily by hot-water bottles. Mr Yushchenko set today as a deadline to fix the system, but few people were optimistic.

Military tents have been set up where residents can go to warm up and receive hot tea. About 11,000 of the city's children have been evacuated to other Ukrainian cities, and many political parties have raced to outdo each other by donating assistance - eager to win support before next month's parliamentary election. Ukraine suffered severely during last month's cold snap, with more than 700 people dying across the country. Many victims were homeless.

"Why is cold killing our people?" an opposition politician, Nestor Shufrych, demanded in parliament this week.

Medical workers said that, in recent weeks, they have seen four times as many patients suffering from the cold as usual in winter. "In their cold apartments, people don't notice the frostbite in time," said one doctor, Viktor Prudnikov.

Oleksandr Antipov, 52, is recovering in hospital after having his fingers amputated. "We've lost this war with the cold," he said. His wife was also injured when they tried to fix a boiler in their home at the height of the cold spell.

Some apartment blocks have been reconnected to the communal heating system, but even these remain at a chilly 12C. There were no guarantees against another breakdown. Viktor Guz, who heads a civic group, said one problem was that two separate organisations owned the heating pipes: "As a result, there is no one person in charge, and these pipes have gone for a decade without repairs."

Ms Sutkovska shivered in her home, bundled in as many clothes as she could manage. "I'm scared I won't live to the next winter," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't have the strength to fight this cold."


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