Nino Chkhobadze, Chair of the Greens Movement of Georgia – Friends of the Earth, believes that the development plan for Shovi must be revoked.
Speaking on the Resume show on the Palitranews TV channel, she emphasized that expert findings contain a direct ban on further development of the area, but these recommendations are being ignored under the guise of economic growth.
“On the anniversary of the Shovi tragedy, people will start discussing why experts banned construction there. The document states in black and white that further construction is strictly unacceptable. Yet we keep hearing that development is necessary, and they ask why we are standing in the way. This plan [the Shovi development plan] must indeed be revoked. It contains just a single sentence noting that the river poses a mudflow risk and that the zones require further study,” she added.
Chkhobadze elaborated on the factors leading to the Shovi tragedy, noting that Georgia has numerous similar high-risk areas and that building in river gorges is unacceptable.
“The gorge itself is geographically very complex. Floods occurred there periodically in the past, and this was documented. There were floods, but nothing of this scale had ever happened. The tragedy was preceded by two weeks of heavy rain. That was a warning signal that required our attention. Of course, it is hard to predict that this particular gorge would flood to such an extent. Even today, there are many mudflow-prone areas in Georgia, making virtually all our regions vulnerable.
How can anyone build any structures right in a riverbed? It was the exact same thing in the Vere Gorge — that road should never have been laid there. The main problem is that we keep doing this without having learned any lessons,” Chkhobadze stated.
She noted that the country has an abundance of mudflow-prone gorges, creating similar risks across a wide range of regions.
“We know that 47 municipalities face risks, where any of seven types of hazards could materialize. People live there. This documentation has still not been fully published. As I understand it, [the Shovi development plan] is not being released for one reason: if it is made public, construction there would either have to follow completely different standards or be halted altogether. Some people seem to think we are standing in the way of economic development,” she emphasized.
In her assessment, environmental risks are rising against the backdrop of climate change, making it vital that a strategic environmental assessment be conducted alongside the preparation of development plans.
“We need to draw up a list of measures tailored to each municipality. The danger has escalated because of climate change.
If we want to reduce these risks, a strategic environmental assessment must be launched in parallel, right from the stage of drafting the [Shovi development] plan. That is precisely how such documents should be prepared,” Chkhobadze concluded.