Expert: "Yesterday, it rained for half an hour in Baku, but what if it rains for days..."

On October 28, Baku experienced rain once again. As with five days earlier, streets and homes in the capital flooded. Fortunately, unlike the previous incident, no fatalities occurred this time in waterlogged tunnels. (On October 22, two people drowned in a tunnel flooded with rainwater in Sabunchu district.)

On October 23, a meeting was held at the Cabinet of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Ali Asadov, to address the damage caused by the heavy rains and discuss future prevention measures.

According to the Cabinet of Ministers, Asadov pointed out that, in addition to objective causes such as excessive rainfall, there are subjective factors involved as well. He noted that the inability of the infrastructure to function at full capacity has led to significant consequences and losses. "It was emphasized that necessary measures are being taken to restore the damaged infrastructure, an investigation into the situation is ongoing, and final decisions will be made after addressing the outcomes," the statement added.

As of now, the Cabinet of Ministers has not provided any further information on the specific decisions and measures planned.

Zemfira Gurbanova, a resident of the Binagadi district, says that the streets were flooded again following the rain on October 28: "I hadn’t been able to go to work for days because I couldn’t move in these conditions. One of the residents put up a small bridge made of planks along the side of the house, which helped us get around, otherwise, we couldn’t even go out to buy bread. Until this wooden bridge was put in place, we were practically under siege."

According to her, although they informed the relevant authorities about the situation, no measures were taken.

Member of Parliament Fazil Mustafa told Turan that the adverse effects of climate change are also evident in other developed countries: "Excessive rainfall inevitably brings such problems. However, it is, of course, crucial to be prepared. It appears that certain issues still persist in our city’s infrastructure."

The MP noted that this is not a problem related to sewage: “There is a need for dedicated drainage systems for rainwater and runoff channels along the roads. Problems persist due to the lack of such facilities."

He emphasized that there is a need for serious discussions on these issues.

Ilgar Huseynli, Chairman of the Public Association for Social-Strategic Research and Analytical Studies, told Radio Liberty that officials' approach to Baku has remained unchanged for years: "In the early 2000s, when new road systems were being built, Baku residents suffered greatly from the excavation work."

The expert believes that these works not only negatively affected Baku’s aesthetic appearance but also disregarded the city’s topography: “Some areas of Baku are below sea level, and historically, parts of the city have been known to flood. In this case, was it necessary to dig 15-20 meters deep to build tunnels for the road systems in the city? No, it wasn’t."

He points out that drainage systems were not implemented when tunnels were dug: "At that depth, such a system cannot be established. Even if they could, where would they discharge the water? After all, this depth falls below the Caspian Sea level."

According to Huseynli, Baku's population has increased significantly, and the water-sewage systems designed for 2.5 million people are now overloaded: "The only option is to dig, open canals, and release the water into the Caspian Sea. Otherwise, they should completely fill in these tunnels. Without these measures, the situation will worsen. Yesterday, on October 28, it rained in Baku for only half an hour, but the city’s climate could mean rain for days. What if it does rain for days? The disgraceful situation will repeat, and people will drown again."

He believes that the construction of the tunnels should be investigated by law enforcement: "Ten years ago, I wrote that Baku was approaching disaster, as corruption and exploitation were present here. Most of these projects are major corruption schemes. They built a long tunnel on Ziya Bunyadov Avenue, did excavations, altered the terrain. But there was no need to dig a tunnel there. Beautiful infrastructure could have been created with overpasses and parallel roads. But they didn’t do that because there’s no shortage of land, and it allowed them to launder more money."