The situation with the landslide in the Raykovski Livadi region remains in the focus of the institutions, after the key road section between Smolyan and Pamporovo was completely interrupted. After an extraordinary meeting of the crisis headquarters held this morning, the first concrete measures to control the situation have already been identified. Smolyan Regional Governor Zarko Marinov commented in "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" and gave details about the completed meeting and the decisions taken.
"At today's crisis headquarters, we made a full assessment of the situation in the Raykovski Livadi region. All institutions that are relevant to the issue, plus companies, plus "Pamporovo" AD, participated in the meeting, which ended a while ago.“, Marinov also commented.
He also added: "Our first task, which we set for today, was to restore the gas supply. By the evening, with the help of all parties involved, it will be restored."
According to him, at the moment there is no immediate danger to the population or the tourist infrastructure:
"We currently do not have a disaster situation, there are no people in distress, no buildings or hotels in Pamporovo are at risk. Only the road connection is interrupted and it has actually completely collapsed."
However, the landslide is of extremely large scale and will have a serious impact on the region, especially in view of the upcoming summer tourist season.
"The scale is very large. The city of Smolyan will suffer the most, as the most direct connection with Pamporovo is interrupted. Given the upcoming summer tourist season, this is a serious problem."
Additional tension is also created by the fact that there are visible cracks in the asphalt outside the main landslide.
"A crack is visible about 200-300 meters from the landslide itself at the moment on the asphalt in the direction of Pamporovo", the regional governor of Smolyan also commented. He specified that this is not a new landslide, but an expansion of the already activated one. The region is known for its landslide activity, with strengthening activities being carried out about 20 years ago:
"This is the largest landslide in Bulgaria. It is a landslide area that starts from Pamporovo and reaches the upper part of Smolyan. Where the strengthening was done, it is currently stable. The issue is further down this reinforcement."
In the short term, the main task is to provide an alternative route. Currently, traffic is being redirected through Rozhen, which, however, creates a risk of serious congestion. The police are already regulating traffic in the area to prevent incidents.
The biggest question remains when the road connection will be fully restored. The answer is unclear for now.
"It is too early to make such predictions. Geologists and designers have not yet conducted the survey. They will place markers and monitor for months to see if the landslide is still active. Only after it is established that the landslide is not active will the design begin," explained the regional governor of Smolyan.
An additional complication is created by the severe weather conditions in the area. However, authorities assure that basic services such as electricity and water supply are stable, and the situation is being monitored continuously.