"They just want to rake in money": Omsk heating pipe bursts outrage residents

Omsk residents reacted strongly to an article by NGS55.RU about the causes of numerous heating pipe bursts in the city. The situation with the utilities was discussed in the city council the day before. The head of the «Heat Company» stated that in Omsk, 50-60 kilometers of pipes need to be replaced per year. But in recent years, work has been done on only 20 kilometers.

The number of accidents is also growing. Since September, 1002 damages have been recorded on the Heat Company«s networks, leading to the disconnection of over 9,000 facilities. A year ago, there were 913 damages.

City residents left numerous comments under the article. Some cannot understand why the replacement of the networks has not been carried out in the city for so long.

«If even on an individual house nothing changes for decades, neither pipes nor sewage, then what about the scale of the city,» an Omsk resident believes.

«Numerous accidents on the heating mains are due to not conducting sufficient repair and replacement of pipes... They jacked up the payments, but in fact nothing has been done... They are still patching up old Soviet pipes... The main thing is, where did the allocated funds go? Where did they go? How much money is allocated annually?» a user wonders.

«Since 1990, they only collect money and did nothing, so it started bursting everywhere. The utility workers just want to rake in money, and the rest is left to chance,» writes a commentator.

«Because for 35 years, since the collapse of the USSR, not a penny has been invested in the repair and development of the pipeline networks!» a city resident fumes.

Some Omsk residents noted the wrong approach of the utility workers to repairing bursts. They believe that the failed networks are not replaced with new ones, but simply «patched up,» which is why accidents recur.

«Stop installing used pipes at accident sites and also clamps... Your own emergency brigade workers talk about this,» a user stated.

Another city resident fears that the situation will worsen with the onset of colder weather.

«There haven»t even been proper frosts yet, and we have bursts everywhere. And if temperatures drop to -40 to -45 degrees Celsius (-40 to -49 degrees Fahrenheit), what then? Until the prosecutor«s office gets involved, nothing will change,» a townsman wrote.

Earlier, we compiled everything known about utility accidents in the city in one article.