Man’s interference with nature can turn rivers into deathtraps
Constant intervention by people has transformed the Diakoniaris watercourse in Patras into an agent of destruction. When the river bed was drastically narrowed, its banks eroded and it was partly covered over to make a road, the rain-swollen river had no outlet and flooding was the inevitable result. Yet again uncontrolled development proved detrimental both to the environment and to society. The fact that two lives were lost on December 17, 2001 may, at long last, lead to some measures to correct the present situation. Illegal building The Diakoniaris River has flooded regularly in recent years: 1997, 1999 and 2001. That means that there has been a big flood every two years, each more dangerous than the previous one. Prior to the 1960s the river rarely flooded, and when it did, its broad bed was able to hold the water. Up until 1980, the river bed was up to 20 meters wide. Since then, the encroachment of illegal buildings has narrowed the river bed down to 4-5 meters in places, and even less at some points. Private owners are not the only ones responsible for the encroaching illegal constructions. In fact, Panayiotis Christopoulos, head of the local branch of the Technical Chamber, charges that the local prefectural administration itself engages in erecting illegal structures. Two schools, the music academy at Englykada and the Third Junior High of Aghios Ioannis Pratsikas, have been built actually in the river’s natural bed. At two points where roads intersect with the river, the bed narrows even further, and all the water is forced through two pipes a mere 1 meter in diameter each. At the place where two people lost their lives on December 17, the road goes across the river bed. A little footbridge put up for children offers no protection from the floodwaters. Blocked pipes More problems are caused by the section of the river that runs through an underground pipe. This section is the final 1,200-meter stretch before the river debouches into the sea. Because this underground pipe is covered over, it is not possible to carry out repairs, nor can it be inspected for maintenance purposes. In fact, little can be done, though it is certain that the large amount of solid matter carried down by the river has shrunk its diameter considerably. Giorgos Kanellis of the Ecology Movement of Patras has expressed serious concern at the fact that the river’s mountainous catchment area has been largely built over; and fires and grazing have caused deforestation. All the water and silt deposits are carried down into the city. Deputy Environment Minister Yiannis Tsaklidis visited Patras about three weeks ago, and promised to take steps as a matter of urgency. He told Kathimerini that the project has been included in the Olympic Games program and that funds have been secured. Land within 30 meters of the river bed will be expropriated. While it will be possible to expedite procedures because of the connection with the Olympics, difficulties will arise over the amount of compensation. The area is already being surveyed. Thirty meters should give the river sufficient room to rise, but it is something of a contradiction that the Environment Ministry is planning to build two-lane roads on both sides of the river bed, which will narrow it considerably. A previous study that was carried out involved a road-building, not a flood-prevention project, and proposed putting a road alongside the river. Fortunately, that study has been tossed aside as inadequate (though its original budget of 600,000 euros [10 million drachmas] still managed to rise to 220 million euros [750 million drachmas]). Tsaklidis insists that the river will not be covered over, but roads will intersect it at various points. The ministry plans to dam the river further upstream so as to hold back the silt deposits and to channel water from the Diakoniaris into nearby streams. How to tackle the problem «The basic work must be done in the mountain section, in the catchment area. We usually start out back to front. Instead of going from high to low, we try to manage the water in the riverbed, in the part on the plain where there is already a lot of water moving with great force,» explains Professor Ilias Mariolakos, president of the Greek Geological Society. And he adds: «Mount Panachaiko is very close to Patras; it has a steep slope and is not composed of particularly absorbent material. This increases the runoff of water, debris, soil, and sediment from the Diakoniaris.» He explains how to deal with this: «Small retaining dams could be built to channel floodwater underground. This would provide protection from floods and enrich the water table.» A proposal along similar lines comes from forester Ilias Dres, a member of the Patras Ecology Movement, who suggests «a full forestry study for managing the highland portion of the stream using technical means and plants.» As for the section of the river that runs through the city, Mariolakos says its bed must be widened to normal size; new large bridges must be built, «always larger than the natural bed and at a great height from the bottom of the river.» Naturally, any further enclosure of the river must be prevented, and apertures must be made in the section that has been enclosed to allow repairs and maintenance, says Christopoulos, who also proposes some short-term measures to ward off disaster. These range from cleaning the riverbed to enlarging the pipe in the enclosed section.
