Water outage forces Derbent residents to buy water

Some neighborhoods in the old part of Derbent have been without water supply for more than ten days, water delivery is not organized everywhere and there is not enough for everyone in need, and bottled water in stores has become more expensive, city residents said.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, on July 30, after a ten-day absence of water in a number of areas of the city, the mayor of Derbent reported on the dismissal of the management of the water supply organization. He added that the city residents will have their water charges recalculated taking into account the period of its absence.

Repair work on the emergency section of the Kaytag-Derbent water pipeline near the village of Gedzhukh was completed at 21:30 Moscow time on July 30, after which water was supplied to the city, a representative of the Unified Water Supply Operator in Dagestan told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot". He noted that it takes some time for water to appear in the homes of end consumers - first, water is collected in a 30-kilometer main pipe, and then the city reservoirs are filled, from where the water is supplied to the population.

The long-term water outage affected mainly the old part of Derbent, primarily the mahals (historical quarters of the old city located near the fortress walls, - note from the "Caucasian Knot"), local residents told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

As of 15:00 Moscow time today, August 1, there was no water in the seventh mahal, Amir told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

At that time, there was also no water on Mira and Genrikh Gasanova streets, Sultan reported. "People did not know where and when the water trucks were heading. Many bought water for almost a thousand rubles per ton to fill containers at home. Bottled water has become more expensive, you still have to look for it in stores,” the man said.

A resident of the Farida mahal told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent that there has been no water in their house for about 10 days. “Water trucks have not come to our neighborhood. We collect water from a spring located nearby, although there are long queues there. We cannot buy bottled water every day. We cannot bathe the children, do laundry, or cook food normally,” the woman complained. The large light and music fountain located in the center of Derbent has continued to work all this time, she noted.

Water was delivered only to some locations, but they had to stand in huge queues and there was not enough water for everyone, Salim told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. He specified that water was supplied to his area, to Mamedbekov and Erlikh streets, only this morning; before that, there had been no water for about 10 days.

“All these days, in the extreme heat, I was transporting water by car, filling it up at one of the car washes so that the family could simply wash themselves and cook food,” Salim said.

The law gives consumers the right to recalculate the fee for cold water in the event of exceeding the permissible duration of interruptions in its supply, which is an important mechanism for protecting the rights of consumers of public utilities, “Patient Monitor and Housing and Utilities” reported on its Telegram channel. In particular, the fee for cold water is recalculated in the event of exceeding the permissible duration of interruptions in its supply: 8 hours (in total) during a month or 4 hours at a time.

Lawyer Ali Aliyev previously told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that, according to the federal law "On Water Supply and Sanitation", interruptions in water supplies are allowed only in emergency situations, while the shutdown should not last more than 24 hours in a row, and the local administration is obliged to ensure the delivery of drinking water.

According to the lawyer, consumers have the right not only to demand a recalculation of the water fee, but also to file a lawsuit for compensation for damages - in particular, the costs of purchasing bottled water and moral damages, which are collected under the law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights". In this case, you do not need to submit applications for recalculation yourself: the company must do it itself, but if this does not happen, you should contact the State Housing Inspectorate or the prosecutor's office.

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