MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Works on mine clearance at the Gorlovka-Mayorsk pressure water piping, part of the Siversky Donets-Donbas channel, will be over by late January, a spokesman for the Joint Centre for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCC) has said.
"The mine clearance effort at the water pipe should be completed no later than January 31 and at power lines no later than January 29," the spokesman told the Donetsk news agency.
Earlier on Monday, mine clearance began at three utility lines near Gorlovka, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, as agreed at the Contact Group’s talks in Minsk.
The representatives of the JCCC and the monitors of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will oversee the effort. The bomb disposal works will begin simultaneously on the Ukrainian side.
The water supply remains one of the most acute humanitarian issues since the armed conflict began in Donbas. The Siversky Donets-Donbas channel is the only source of drinking water for the citizens of the Donetsk republic. The channel was seriously damaged in August 2014 following shellings carried out by the Ukrainian forces.
The local utility providers have failed so far to begin the repair works due to the difficult situation in the areas where the pipes were damaged and regular attacks conducted by the Ukrainian troops.