Ukraine’s Health Ministry said that water in the regions that were affected by the collapse of the Russia-controlled Nova Kakhovka dam on June 6, remains highly contaminated.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Ministry said: “In reservoirs of the Kherson, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, individual indicators significantly exceed the established hygiene and sanitary standards,” CNN reported.
It noted that the Odesa region is “under the greatest danger” at the moment.
About 40 surface water monitoring points have been set up along the river channel in the flood zone and along the seacoast in three regions, according to the statement.
The Ministry urged the residents against swimming and fishing, adding that the major pollutants in the water were traces of salmonella, worm’s eggs and worm’s larvae which have “significantly” exceeded permitted levels of E. Coli.
On Sunday, the Odesa municipality announced that beaches in the region were closed off after dirty water from the collapsed dam washed downstream, posing a “genuine threat” to local residents.
While floodwaters are receding, debris have washed down the Dnipro river — which flows into the Black Sea — turning Odesa’s coastline into “a garbage dump and animal cemetery”, the municipality said in a social media post.
“The beaches of Odesa have been declared unsuitable for swimming due to a significant aggravation in the condition of water in open water areas (sea, estuary) and a genuine threat to the health of the city residents,” CNN quoted the municipality as saying.
Authorities first raised the alarm about the declining water quality on June 17, saying that lab tests had “identified infectious agents over the past week”.
The dam collapse led to the destruction of villages, flooding of farmland and cutting off power as well as clean water supplies to tens of thousands of people, reports CNN.
At least 45 people have died since the breach and it remains unclear if the dam was deliberately targeted or whether structural failure caused it to collapse.
Also on Monday, Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed governor of Kherson, said that 8,100 people have been evacuated from the region since the start of the rescue operation — including 583 children and 290 people with low mobility.
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