The mayor of Drohobych warned of the risk of an accident on the main water pipeline
Authorities in Drohobych have warned of a potential threat to the water supply for the city and several surrounding villages. According to the city council, a production facility was built in the village of Modrychi directly within the protected zone of the main water pipeline. In the event of an accident, approximately 100,000 consumers could be left without water.
Authorities in Drohobych have reported a situation that could lead to serious water supply problems. The cause is said to be the construction of a production facility in the village of Modrychi, through which the “Girne–Drohobych” main water pipeline runs. According to the city council, the company has already completed construction and put the facility into operation. This involves a relocated production facility that moved from eastern Ukraine.
Due to this situation, an on-site meeting of the city commission on technological and environmental safety and emergencies was held on July 28. Roman Shagala, head of the municipal enterprise “Drohobychvodokanal,” explained that one of the city’s main water mains runs through the land plot, and another is located just a few meters from the new building.
According to him, state building codes stipulate that water mains of this diameter must have a sanitary protection zone of at least 10 meters. “The building’s location relative to the main utility lines constitutes a gross violation of state building codes,” the Drohobych City Council noted. The water utility also highlighted another issue. During construction, large volumes of soil were brought onto the site, causing the pipelines to end up at a depth of more than four meters.
Utility officials warn that the additional load could damage the old cast-iron pipes. Furthermore, in the event of an accident, it will be much more difficult for repair crews to access the networks. City council officials emphasize that the consequences could be very serious. “If the main water pipeline is damaged, there is a high probability of a man-made emergency. The uninterrupted centralized water supply for residents of Drohobych and the surrounding villages—Modychi, Ranevychi, Pochayevychi, and Mykhailevychi—could be at risk,” city officials stated.
Drohobych Mayor Taras Kuchma says that city officials do not know who approved the construction within the water main’s protected zone. “How are we supposed to know? It’s Kyiv that grants permission. They took our water main—which supplies water to all of Drohobych—built a large structure on it, and piled up a four-meter embankment that could crush the pipe. This is a disaster,” he said.
According to the mayor, company representatives offered to provide a letter of guarantee and promised to ensure access to the pipes in the event of an accident. “They say they’ll provide a letter of guarantee and permission to carry out repairs if an accident occurs on the water main. They simply don’t understand what a water main is or what protective zones are,” Kuchma added.
He reported that the city council has already appealed to law enforcement agencies, the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning, and the State Environmental Inspectorate. The authorities are currently awaiting an official response. The village of Modrychi is part of the Truskavets community. Truskavets Mayor Andriy Kulchynskyi confirmed that a relocated business is indeed operating on the private plot of land. “The landowner has reached an agreement with the relocated business regarding joint economic activity. The relocated business, which came from eastern Ukraine, is constructing a temporary production facility using sandwich panels,” he said.
The mayor did not specify exactly what the enterprise will produce. At the same time, Kulchynskyi believes that the problem arose due to the lack of a properly designated protection zone around the water main. “Unfortunately, regarding the main water pipeline that runs through the settlements of the Truskavets community, the water utility does not have designated land or contractual terms that clearly specify where the pipes run. They buried the pipe back in the old days, and that was it. This facility is already operational. A plot of land should have been set aside and a right of use granted to the water utility; then no one would have been able to build anything there,” he explained.
According to the mayor of Truskavets, the city council did not issue any permits for the facility’s construction, as this does not fall within its authority. “We’ve reached a stalemate. The only option is to go to court. Neither the Truskavets City Council nor the Drohobych City Council has any influence here—only the court does, because this is a matter of commercial relations,” concluded Andriy Kulchynskyi.
At this time, no final decision has been made regarding the situation. In Drohobych, officials insist that the construction poses a real threat to the main water pipeline, on which the water supply for the city and several surrounding communities depends. Meanwhile, in Truskavets, officials believe that the dispute can now only be resolved through the courts.
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