VLADIVOSTOK, September 5. /TASS/. Yakutsk's authorities suggest making the city a pilot site for permafrost's automatic monitoring, Mayor Evgeny Grigoriev told TASS during the Eastern Economic Forum.

Automatic monitoring of perennially frozen soils is designed to cut risks of man-made accidents and minimize financial losses caused by permafrost melting. Yakutsk is the largest city built in the permafrost zone, it is home to about 380,000 people. "We are calling on federal authorities to make Yakutsk a pilot site for automatic permafrost monitoring," he said.

Yakutsk has 1,500 houses on pile foundations, in some of which temperature pipes have been installed. "To avoid less load-bearing capacity of houses in Yakutsk, we must prevent melting of permafrost soils," the mayor said. "One necessary condition is to have constant monitoring of soil temperatures underground, for which temperature tubes with sensors have been installed, and thus temperatures are measured several times a year."

According to him, in many buildings these temperature tubes are not used after the houses are commissioned. "Presently, it is the responsibility of managing companies," he said. "It is necessary to introduce a system of standards, where temperature tubes are installed at the construction stage, and so that further on an automated system could collect data, like we have with water meters. Necessary would be also responsibilities for observing soil conditions and for cases where these conditions are not observed, and those temperature pipes need to be serviced accordingly."

The cost of this equipment per one house is about 2-3 million rubles ($22,000 - 33,000), he continued. "Thus, we need 3 billion rubles," the mayor said, adding the authorities would be seeking funds outside the municipal budget.

Scientists say that damage from permafrost melting in the Russian Federation's Arctic Zone may exceed 7-10 trillion rubles ($78 - 112 billion) by 2050. The program of background and geotechnical monitoring could minimize the damage. Presently, the national hydrometeorology service, Roshydromet, conducts background monitoring.

About the forum

The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) is underway on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok on September 3-6, 2024. The main theme of the EEF in 2024 is "Far East 2030. Combining strengths to create new potential."

The EEF is one of the largest international conferences in Russia. It has been held in the Primorsky Region’s Russky Island in Vladivostok since 2015. The Forum is the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who decreed that the event be held annually.

The forum's objectives and goals include promoting the accelerated growth of Russia’s Far East region; assessing its potential for exports; expanding international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region; showcasing the investment appeal of the region, its steadily progressing territories, and the Vladivostok free port.

The Roscongress Foundation has served as the Forum’s organizer since 2016.

TASS is the general information partner of the EEF.