MOSCOW, April 02. /ITAR-TASS/. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will hold a hookup conference on Wednesday. Participants in the conference will discuss preparedness of the regions for flood-and-fire hazard season of 2014, a government press service official said.
Conference participants are expected to consider matters concerning a mishap-free passage of freshet waters, preparation for the fire-hazard summer season, as well as measures to prevent possible emergencies and elimination of their aftermath by the personnel and equipment of the Integrated state system for the prevention and elimination of the aftermath of emergencies (RSE).
All the heads of the consitutent entities of the RF will participate in the confrence. The Premier is to contact through a video conference with the heads of the Republics of Karelia, Tuva, and Sakha (Yakutia), Primorsky Territory, Vologda and Orenburg Regions.
In 2014, RSE preparation for a safe passage of freshet waters and for the fire-hazard period is conducted with due account of the experience gained in the elimination of the aftermath of floods in the town of Krymsk, in the Far East, as well as large-scale wildfires ragingin 2010. All zones of possible flood have benn already determined. They include more than 4,500 populated areas, as well as jam-prone sectors. Territories with a potential risk of wildfires includes more than 7,000 inhabited areas.
A government official recalled that Federal authorities had worked out and approved plans for the softening of risks and for response to emergencies during the passage of spring-time freshet waters, the prevention and elimination of the aftermath of emergencies caused by wildfires. Similar plans have been worked out in all regions.
In the esimate made by Rosgidromet (Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring), a spring-time freshet of 2014 is typical for the April-mid-May period on the rivers of the European part of the country and in the southern part of Russia's Asian territory. At the end of April freshets will shift to the Asian part of the country and affect the central regions of Siberia, the continental areas of Magadan Region, the Chukotka Autonomous Area, Sakhalin Region, and Kamchatka Territory's east.
In view of this, work has been already completed to updgrade, overhaul and do current maintenance of 185 hydraulic engineering facilities and measures have been taken to increase the carrying capacity of the mouths of rivers with an overall length of 326.2 km and 63 engineering protection facilities have been built and upgraded.
Plannes for 2014 are also preventive flood control measures, including ice-breaking operations in the problem areas of the mouths of rivers with an overall lenght of 659.6 km and icebreaking operations (141.5 km) in Arkhangelsk and Vologda Regins. Work is under way to diminish the strength of ice on the river Lena (4.58 square kilometres). Regulation of the operating modes of the water reservoirs of the Volga-Kama, and Angara-Yenissei series of manmade lakes and other large water reservoirs.
A fire-hazard season this year begin early and is expected to affect the south of Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts; the Central District and Volga area are expected to be affected in May and June. As of the end of March, ten forest fires already raged on an area of 325 hectares.
According to government data, the heads of the constituent entities of the RF approved within the established timeframe the combined plans for putting out fores fires.
At present, systems and means for the prevention and dousing of forest fires have been readied for the coming fire-hazard seaons on 77.4 percent of areas one-quarter more than last year. In 2014, over 260,000 people and 99,000 units of machinery may be involved in forest fires dousing operations. In 64 regions, contracts have been concluded for the accomplishment of of all types operations to protect forests from fires.