He explained that the fish had escaped during the catastrophic storm Daniel because various reservoirs in the area had broken, leading them to drainage ditches where they grew over the winter.
“The floodgate, which was opened to release floodwater, remained open until the water receded. Because irrigation water was coming from Gyrtoni to irrigate the plain up to Volos, the floodgate could not be closed. The prosecutorial report issued this morning confirms and justifies that I didn’t close it,” noted Thessaly’s governor, Dimitris Koureta.
Speaking to Proto Programma 91.6 and 105.8, Koureta explained that the fish had escaped during the storm Daniel due to broken reservoirs in the area, and they were transferred to drainage ditches where they grew during the winter.
“We are currently collecting 100 tons per day, which are being incinerated. I believe that by Sunday, this fish cleanup will be almost complete,” he noted.
“If the floodgate had been closed, the entire area north of Lake Karla up to Gyrtoni and Kalamaki would have flooded, resulting in the same situation as last year. What could have been done? South toward the port of Volos, there is the Port Authority and the Municipality of Volos, who are responsible for these matters. The nets that were put in place on Tuesday should have been installed much earlier. If they had been in place earlier, there would have been no problem, as they would have contained the fish, and we could have collected them as we are doing now.
The fact that people are complaining about a problem is valid, but if we had waited for those who complain and blame others, nothing would have been done.
Since we took action, we brought in several small ships that are in the port, cleaning up the debris and the Kseria, where there are many dead fish.
This phenomenon is unprecedented and has never been described before, so it’s challenging to know what to do with so many tons of dead fish,” Koureta stated.
He emphasized that he had informed the Port Authority and the Municipality about 10-12 days ago.
When asked why he is being criticized by the mayor of Volos with harsh language, he responded:
“Even for the Prime Minister and the ministers, saying they are crooks and taking bribes. But Beos [the mayor] operates in a peculiar state of immunity, which I think should stop at some point.
That’s why I issued that statement, which was quite harsh, saying ‘enough is enough.’ Such expressions will no longer be tolerated. This is a difficult situation, and if anyone wants to help, they should do so seriously.”
According to Koureta, the floodgate was closed on Tuesday after it was confirmed that no more irrigation water was coming, which is managed by TOEB (Local Land Reclamation Organization).
When asked if the floodgate could have been closed earlier, he emphasized that “no, there is no control, which is the big problem.”
“TOEB is the organization that controls the water flow. There are 50 TOEBs in Thessaly, which manage the water. They are supervised by the Ministry of Agricultural Development, and they have presidents and boards that receive funding and manage Thessaly’s water. There is no control. (…) The Water Organization was established to handle this, but no one knows who opens what. Thessaly is a ‘water management Eldorado.’ Understand this. (…) If you read the Dutch report, which led to the creation of the Water Organization, it states that there is no control anywhere. There never was, and there still isn’t. This is the situation you are describing. From my side, I am trying to solve the problem as much as humanly possible. When there is so much irrigation water without any control—how it’s used, where it goes, where it’s recorded—(…) You won’t find any records or control systems. (…) There is no control. People irrigate as they wish. Some pay, some don’t. This is the current situation. Therefore, the floodgate couldn’t be closed. However, coordination could have taken place to install the nets earlier, and we wouldn’t be dealing with this fish problem. If the nets had been installed, we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” the governor of Thessaly added.
