A meeting of the operational headquarters of the Ministry of Forestry was held in the Lepel district to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters that damaged the forest fund

The state is ready to allocate additional equipment to the regions for the development of timber felled by adverse weather, if necessary. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Petr Parkhomchik at an off-site meeting of the Ministry of Forestry in Lepel district.

"We have been engaged in eliminating the consequences prepared for us by nature for a week now. These are not the first such events, because in the last five to six years, these windfalls have been happening almost systematically. We have already learned how to develop solutions to these issues. Today, it has affected Vitebsk and Minsk regions. If we take Minsk region, the issues there are simpler, because all the places where the forest has been felled are easily accessible. It is a bit more complicated in Vitebsk region. We flew over Orsha district, closer to Smolensk, and there, of course, the soil is oversaturated, and it is clear that it is practically impossible to reach these places and remove the felled timber," he said.

The regions have been tasked with developing accessible areas as soon as possible. As the Deputy Prime Minister clarified, by the end of October. "As for oversaturated areas, we will set goals and tasks taking into account nature," Petr Parkhomchik added. "If there are frosts in November (as has happened before), then we will work in November and carry out these developments."

The regions affected by adverse weather currently have sufficient resources. "Regarding personnel and equipment - I actively asked this question to the heads of the Vitebsk, Orsha, and Minsk State Forestry Enterprises and their divisions, there are enough people and sufficient equipment. Although we are ready to provide additional equipment. "AMKODOR" is successfully coping with the task, so we are ready to supply the necessary number of harvesters and forwarders in the shortest possible time to solve this problem as quickly as possible or to accelerate the solution of the problems that have arisen," the Deputy Prime Minister added.

Representatives of various departments and divisions at an on-site headquarters for disaster response in the Lepel district discussed how to clear windfalls and develop all accessible and hard-to-reach areas in the shortest possible time. Agency specialists inspected the plantations damaged by the adverse weather. Windfalls, wind-felled trees, and plantations requiring clear sanitary felling have been recorded in almost every region of the country, with a total area of 4.5 thousand hectares. Forestry enterprises suffered the most in the Minsk and Vitebsk regions; for example, in the Lepel forestry alone, 615 hectares were affected, and in the Borovlyany Special Forestry, 600.9 hectares. Currently, damaged plantations along roadsides and settlements are being cleared.

Regional divisions of the Ministry of Forestry are coping with the development of areas with plantations felled by the adverse weather.

When asked how the regions are coping with the consequences of the natural disaster that struck the country, he responded with praise. "Well done. We have been working under strain for a week now, and the disaster was not only about fallen trees. About 1,140 settlements were de-energized. And we resolved this issue very quickly, within a day and a half to two days. That is, everyone got electricity. Well, this problem (fallen trees. - Ed.) is a bit more complicated, so, as planned, we will try to keep this work under control and, of course, complete it as soon as possible," noted the Deputy Prime Minister.

Additional funds for clearing windfalls and plantations requiring clear sanitary felling are not planned to be allocated yet. "They are not asking - they are modest guys," commented Petr Parkhomchik. "Wherever I go and ask what you need to accomplish the task, they say they have enough labor resources and equipment. Only they ask for significantly more time than we require them to complete the assigned tasks."

Heavy rains and thunderstorms hit the region on August 6 and 7. The adverse weather felled trees, power lines, and damaged buildings and vehicles.

"BELTA"

Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by