35 houses flooded in village of Southern Azerbaijan

A mudflow has flooded 35 houses in the village of Alar, Jalilabad District of Azerbaijan. Locals believe that the flood was caused by destruction of a dam in the neighbouring village, and blame local authorities for inaction.

On October 27, a mudflow struck the village of Alar; they managed to stop the flows of mud and water only in the morning of October 28, said Alishir Mamedov, a villager.

According to his story, residents of Alar had to leave the 35 flooded houses, in which the water level reaches 15-70 centimetres.

Apart from heavy rains, the calamity was caused by the destruction of the dam in the village of Gyulmamedli, said Shakhlar Akhadov, another local.

"During the Soviet period, there were dams and water reservoirs in the villages of Gyulmamedli and Djafarkhanly. Later, they were turned into fishing ponds," he explained, adding that local authorities do nothing to prevent the destruction of yet another dam in Djafarkhanly.

According to him, the authorities have rendered no help to the victims and have not started defining the scale of the caused damage.

The population of the village of Alar is 10,000, the "Contact" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.