Five months after floods, Thessaly awaits recovery
While the news focus is firmly on the farmers’ protests across Greece, attention on the dire situation in one region, in Thessaly, has somewhat faded, except for the locals, who are still awaiting a recovery plan five months after the disastrous floods that destroyed many properties, killed livestock and eroded the soil.
HVA International, a Dutch-based company, has been tasked with drawing up a master plan. But until it finishes the job, rumors are flying of grandiose schemes to restore the Thessaly plain to its former glory. Local farmers say the government has promised the diversion of the Acheloos River, on the other side of the mountains to the west, a project long contemplated and condemned by environmentalists, who had managed to block it in court.
Experts say a number of complex anti-flooding works will be needed, which must be completed in their totality, and not piecemeal.
