Floods in Kazakhstan: the head of the company was convicted for breaking the dam
In the Khromtau district of Aktobe region, the trial on the case of the Magajan dam breach, which occurred in April 2024, has ended. According to the press service of the prosecutor’s office of Aktobe region, the state prosecution, supported by the district prosecutor’s office, insisted on the guilt of the head of the management company responsible for the operation of the hydraulic structure.
The court found the defendant guilty under Article 254 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Unfair attitude to duties”. He was sentenced to two years and six months of restriction of freedom. In addition, a convict for three years is prohibited from holding positions and conducting activities related to water management. The prosecutor’s office reports that, according to the case file, the director of the LLP managing the dam, for selfish reasons, did not take the necessary measures to discharge water in a timely manner. This inaction led to the destruction of the dam on April 4 of this year. The consequences of the breakthrough turned out to be very serious: the settlements of Tabantal, Kyzyltu and Beskospa were flooded. Residents of these settlements lost their property, significant damage was caused to the infrastructure of the region.
It should be noted that the verdict has not yet entered into force, which means that the parties have the opportunity to appeal it.
It is worth recalling that the flood situation in Aktobe region in April 2024 was under the close attention of the government. Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov personally inspected the affected areas and, in particular, inspected the Magadzhansky dam, where the breakthrough occurred. At that time, the volume of the reservoir was 15.8 million cubic meters. The reservoir itself, commissioned back in 1985, is managed by the private company Tulpar LLP. As a result of the dam break, evacuation of residents was required: 25 people were evacuated from the village of Kyzyltu, 11 more from the wintering Tabantal. In the whole region, in five districts and the city of Aktobe, a state of emergency of a natural nature of a local scale was declared, almost 9 thousand people were evacuated.
The spring floods of 2024 have become a serious test for Kazakhstan. Large-scale flooding affected ten regions of the country, where a local emergency regime was introduced. Among them are Abai, Akmola, Aktobe, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Kostanay, Pavlodar, North Kazakhstan and Ulytau regions.
