ALMATY — The plight of a city in
Kazakhstan left
without heating for over a week in temperatures that dropped to -30°C has
sparked anger and highlighted the deplorable state of the country's Soviet-era
infrastructure.
اضافة اعلان
This month the northeastern city of Ekibastuz, with a
population of around 150,000 people, descended into an icy hell, highlighting
the dire consequences of power disruptions in winter, as European countries
struggle with shortages due to the conflict in on Ukraine.
Images broadcast in Kazakhstan in recent days showed long
icicles forming inside apartments, while residents burnt anything they could
find to keep warm.
Teams had to work day and night to repair water pipes that
had burst due to the cold.
On November 28, authorities declared a state of emergency in
Ekibastuz after a malfunction at a thermal power plant deprived several
districts of electricity and heating.
The state of emergency was lifted on Thursday and the
situation has gradually improved, but the problem has sparked outrage across
the country.
Run-down infrastructure
President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who saw deadly protests
break out over fuel price hikes in January last year, fired the local governor
and dispatched senior officials to the scene.
The city's plight has sparked an outpouring of support, with
residents of Kazakhstan collecting donations and sending heaters and blankets
to Ekibastuz.
Funds were even collected in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, which
itself suffers from power outages.
The Ekibastuz ordeal is just the latest in a long list of
accidents involving thermal infrastructure in the vast Central Asian country.
Kazakhstan's energy system, inherited from the
Soviet Union,
is still run-down despite investments.
"As they say here, the first time it's an accident, the
second time it's a coincidence, but the third time it's a rule," energy
expert Zhakyp Khairushev told AFP.
According to government data, heating plants were on average
built more than 60 years ago under Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev.
Khairushev said that more than 1,000 emergency shutdowns had
occurred at thermal power plants since the start of the year.
To meet the high demand, power stations need to operate at
full capacity, which increases the risk of accidents.
Khairushev said the recent expansion of the power-hungry
crypto mining industry was adding to the risks.
Twenty-two of Kazakhstan's 37 thermal power stations are in
private hands, and Tokayev has said he is considering the nationalization of a
number of assets.
Many have laid the blame for the most recent accident on
tycoon Alexander Klebanov, the owner of the Ekibastuz power station.
Klebanov has denied responsibility.
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