There will no longer be tunnels in Vere Gorge
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, June 26
New tunnels will not be constructed in Vere Gorge. The information was released be the Mayor of Tbilisi Davit Narmania, after a closed meeting held in his office on June 24.
The main issue of the meeting was the reconstruction of the damaged roads and infrastructure, as well as the restoration of Tbilisi Zoo and Mziuri park, after extensive flooding in Tbilisi on June 13.
The specialists from different fields expressed their opinions about the problem and according to Narmania, some serious decisions were made.
“We all agreed that river Vere must be released from the tunnels, where it flows, as soon as possible, so instead of new tunnels we will construct a bridge,” he said.
Another main issue was the development of public transport and the regulation of traffic. The Mayor stressed that the reconstruction of damaged roads must be finished before September.
“The scheme of the traffic and routs will be made, to make decisions based on this study,” he added.
According to Gia Abuladze , General Director of the constructing company Arsi, first, the bus system and underground systems must be developed.
He said that there was no information as to how many cars were moving at the time of disaster and which ones were in transit, so he suggested to improve this aspect in the future.
The Head of Architecture Service Nino Gogoberidze said that seismic, geophysical, geological and engineering studies should be carried out before the restoration works start.
“I hope these processes will not last long, because September is near, decision is to be made and concrete works must be carried out,” she stated.
It should be noted that the massive flooding on June 13 in Tbilisi claimed lives of 19 people, left hundreds homeless and destroyed much of the infrastructure in the disaster areas.
The exact amount of the damage is still unknown. Government officials estimate that losses will exceed 100 million Gel.
