December 21 (BTA) - At a meeting here

on Saturday, the Crisis Headquarters decided to declare a

seven-day state of disaster in Pernik Municipality so as to

implement emergency activities before the dead storage capacity

of the Studena Dam is reached, Pernik Mayor Stanislav Vladimirov

said. If necessary, the state of disaster period might be

extended, he added.



The city's water supply has been restricted for a month now due

to the quantity of water in the Studena Dam being at a critical

minimum, Vladimirov recalled, adding that harsher restrictions

were introduced on Friday. Still, these measures are

insufficient because there is a real risk of the Studena Dam's

dead storage capacity being reached in the coming months.



In Vladimirov's words, Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov

together with the State-owned Montagi EAD company will ensure

the implementation of the emergency activities outlined in the

last several days. These include drilling in the karst basin

above the Studena Dam and the placement of an installation to

reroute water from Strouma River to the Studena Dam.



Minister Karanikolov, who attended Saturday's meeting of the

Crisis Headquarters, said that experts are conducting the

necessary research and analyses. They are considering the

potential rerouting of water from the Vladaya Channel to the

Studena Dam, he also said.



RY/DS





Source: Pernik, Western Bulgaria