An accident with flooding occurred at Verkhne-Baskanskaya HPP in Kazakhstan
In the Sarkand district of the Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan, a serious accident occurred at one of the small hydroelectric power stations located on the Baskan River, near the village of Ekiasha. The incident occurred in the evening, on August 12, the Kursiv newspaper reports.
According to local residents, at the beginning of the evening they heard a loud rumble, after which a powerful stream of water burst out from under the dam. Within a few minutes, the water flooded the entire site of the Verkhne-Baskanskaya HPP, including the building and equipment, completely stopping the operation of the facility.
Rescuers, police and emergency crews arrived at the scene. The territory was cordoned off, the staff was evacuated. The breakthrough was eliminated only in the dead of night.
The akimat of Zhetysu commented on the information about the dam break and flooding of the Baskan HPP in a different way today.
According to aktimat, on August 12 at 17.00 at the Verkhne-Baskanskaya HPP-2 station located on the Maly Baskan River in the village of Ekiasha, Sarkansky district, a local rupture of the water supply occurred.
“The actual situation differs significantly from the information disseminated on the Web. The security specialists of Baskan Power LLP on the spot promptly blocked the water supply from the upper water intake, which made it possible to prevent the spread of water outside the station,” the report says.
According to the akimat, residential buildings located near the river were not damaged, there is no threat to the population and environmental safety.
“There was a technological breakthrough of the pipeline, as a result of which water was released through the buildings of the hydroelectric power station and onto the surface outside. The operational staff of the HPP was de-energized, the water supply was stopped, and by 18:00 the pipeline was completely dehydrated. Pumping has started, as of today the water inside the building has been pumped out, emergency recovery work is underway. As a result of the release of water, there is no damage to the local population, there is no flooding of residential buildings and farms, there is no environmental threat, the water has completely gone into the riverbed,” said Daniyar Dosabayev, Technical director of Baskan Power LLP.
According to the akimat, now all services are working normally.
Original (in Russian): В Казахстане на Верхне-Басканской ГЭС произошла авария с затоплением
