Kazakhstan sets up emergency headquarters after Shoptikol dam breach

According to the Akmola region akimat’s press service, Marat Akhmetzhanov, akim (governor) of the region and Serik Dzhunisbekov, Chairman of the Committee for Emergency Situations Prevention of the Ministry of Emergencies are currently at the scene. An operational headquarters has been established under the leadership of deputy akim Murat Balpan.

“At present, the threat of flooding to the nearby village of Sabyndy has been fully eliminated, and all facilities are operating as normal. Local executive bodies, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and residents are working to raise the level of the roadbed on the Astana–Korgalzhyn republican highway in order to redirect meltwater into the steppe zone,” the statement said.

A total of 56 units of equipment and more than 230 people, including local residents and personnel from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, are involved in the response. Around 5,000 sandbags and 50,000 tonnes of inert materials have been prepared, while an 800-meter earthen embankment has been constructed.

The akimat added that the Shoptikol dam has a capacity of 4.71 million cubic meters, with a reservoir covering 157 hectares and an average depth of about 3 meters. The facility protects a section of the Astana–Korgalzhyn republican highway from flooding and also supplies water to the Shevchenko and Balkash ponds.

To note, the Shoptikol dam in the Akmola region was breached, with water now spreading across fields toward a nearby settlement and crossing the Astana–Korgalzhyn republican highway at the 75th kilometer, as efforts by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, local authorities, and residents continue to raise ground levels and redirect meltwater into the steppe zone.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan will continue upgrading its water supply and sewerage systems through general transfers and borrowed funds under the energy and utilities sector modernization national project.