Expert: Fortress Walls May Collapse

Baku / 10.22.18 / Turan: Baku has slowly and correctly launched the process of self-destruction. The Bayil and Darnagul landslides, subsidence of land in Samad Vurgun Street and Zykh and near the mosque of Bibi-Heybat are a clear evidence of this. The city either slips to the east, or goes underground. This was never the case with the capital. True, landslides have sometimes been observed in Bayil and there have always been landslide zones in Azerbaijan that are subject to a certain risk, but the number of landslide zones in the country is increasing every year. If in 1980 landslides were recorded in 100 localities in Azerbaijan, at the moment this figure reaches 400.

Back in 2014, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the country Huseyngulu Bagirov emphasized that the number of landslide zones in the country, and especially in the capital, significantly increased and, in simple terms, it resulted from construction projects: "When there are any potential landslide zones, any pressure makes the process easier."

In addition, the ex-minister pointed out the connection of landslides with the absence of a centralized sewer system in certain areas of the country.

In January of this year, experts of the Institute of Geography of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan conducted a study, which resulted in about 20 large landslide zones in Baku - Ahmedli highway, Zykh highway, Binagadi, Bayil, Gurd Gapysy in Badamdar, Ganly Gol, the Lokbatan slope, areas leading to Gobustan and Alat settlements, as well as the territory around Lake Masazyr. In these territories, landslide zones are widespread, and it is extremely dangerous to live there. However, despite this, about 150 thousand people live there. It is even scary to imagine what kind of tragedy a powerful landslide can cause in these areas. According to experts, along with natural causes, the causes of the formation of landslide zones are the old sewage system, the movement of trucks, and the construction of houses on the slopes.

With all this, the cracks in the landslide zone on the Bayil slope along the road connecting Badamdar with the settlement 20th Section continue to grow, several houses have collapsed, and several buildings are threatened with a similar fate. The forecasts of experts are disappointing, and part of the road in the very center of the city, having gone underground, caused a shock among the residents of the capital.

According to the press secretary of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan, Anar Najafli, the agency"s employees conducted monitoring that revealed several violations: "It has been established that a new building is under construction in the pilot project. Construction work was carried out without preliminary calculations. To protect the road, it was necessary to build a retaining wall. As a result, after the rains, the road sagged."

The reasons are the same: rainwater, which, in the absence of a normal sewage system, erodes the soil and illiterate construction that engulfs the entire center of Baku. In many trenches dug under construction it is often possible to see a sufficient amount of water and special machines constantly pumping it out. It is not difficult to imagine the fate of a built high-rise building and the people who buy apartments in it for fabulous money.

According to the civil engineer Rahab Gaziyev, in a short time the whole capital may go underground: "This is not an allegation. If you do not take proper measures, Baku will begin to fall in parts. Even the fortress walls of the Old City are at risk. According to the information I have, the basement of school №134 is filled with water. It is necessary to monitor and identify the most dangerous areas, and then carry out urgent measures to remedy the situation. "

The expert, pointing out the reasons for the current situation, suggested a way out of the dangerous situation: "The main reason, of course, is the lack of a modern sewage system. The pipes have not changed for decades and are no longer functioning, and the soil can no longer absorb the excess water, so it sags. New buildings, growing like mushrooms, put pressure on it even more, and as a result collapses of buildings and roads and landslides begin. Uncontrolled construction is the scourge of modern Azerbaijan. Construction is a science, and we have amateurs doing it. You cannot build where you want, and what you want. There must be a system in everything. The government should take the construction of multi-storey buildings under control, and the construction should be carried out after monitoring the area set aside for construction. In addition, it is necessary to replace the entire sewer system of the city. If this is not done in the shortest possible time, the consequences will be unpredictable," Rahab Gaziyev said. -0-