Pipe bursts leave Volgograd residents without water, heat

Residents of apartment building No. 2 on Stoletova Street in Volgograd«s Krasnoarmeysky district have been without cold water and heating for the seventh day. The situation began with pipe bursts in late January, followed by more accidents.

The first serious incident occurred on January 29, when a heating pipe burst on the ninth floor in an empty room. The stairwell was flooded, and residents had to place basins in their apartments. That same day, they contacted the editorial office of V1.RU for help.

One resident said: «Last night a heating pipe burst in a room on the ninth floor. No one lives there — the room was sold, and the owner left no contacts. Rooms from the first floor up are flooded. All residents are calling the management company, but no one has come yet...»

The editorial office sent a request to the Volgograd city administration. That same day around noon, a response came: «According to management organizations, at building No. 2 on Stoletova Street, company specialists have begun work necessary to repair the damaged in-house networks.»

However, on January 31, a new burst occurred on the third floor. After that, water stopped flooding the stairwell but disappeared from the taps along with the heating. A female reader of V1.RU reported: «There»s been no cold water for over a week, no heating for a long time, we can«t get through to the management company, and written requests go unanswered. If anyone does get through, they promise a team of plumbers for three days in a row, but no one shows up.»

According to the residents, the accident on January 29 was not the first. They point to the complete dilapidation of the pipes in the building. Previously, residents filed collective complaints with the prosecutor«s office, Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Consumer Protection), and the State Housing Inspectorate (GZhI) against the inactivity of the previous management company, Paradigma. They won the court case, but by then the management company had already lost its license. The residents explained: »The pipes are completely rotten. January 25 and 29 are just isolated incidents out of many that keep happening.«

The director of the management company Volzhsky Krai, Svetlana Degtyareva, which now services the building, commented: «The building came to us recently — it»s our first month. It came in a terrible state because the previous company apparently didn«t maintain it properly, and residents fled from them. We haven»t even billed them yet. The utilities are in very bad shape. We restore electricity every day; the electrical panels on all floors have been redone. Many meters of water supply pipes have been replaced. But unfortunately, there«s a huge section, and when we turn it on, a burst occurs somewhere else. The welders work even at night. When we first entered, everything was under water, all the utilities.»

Degtyareva added that they have already restored 36 radiators in 36 rooms that had frozen due to open vents. She noted: «I know it»s easier to blame the company and that residents want everything done quickly, but unfortunately, the building came to us in this condition, and we can«t fix everything at once — it»s a matter of both human and financial resources.«

The V1.RU editorial office continues to inquire with the Volgograd administration about when water supply and heating will be fully restored at 2 Stoletova Street.