Heavy rains in recent days once again tested the infrastructure of the city of Samarkand. Some streets were flooded, and newly built sidewalks collapsed.
Videos spread on social media brought the problem to the wider public. Soon after, the governor of Samarkand region, Adiz Boboyev, also reacted to the situation.
The governor expressed gratitude to the social media activists who pointed out the problem and gave instructions to promptly eliminate the shortcomings.
“It’s good that these bloggers exist. The blogger spoke up, and we are working faster. We arrived immediately,” said the regional governor.
According to the governor, one of the reasons for the problem is related to the capacity of the drainage system. He noted that the existing network is 70–80 years old and cannot handle today's load.
The governor emphasized that haste should not be allowed when installing the new network. In particular, he stated that the capacity of the new network should be several times larger than the previous one, and the design marks and measurements must be taken correctly.
“First, the design institute must take the elevations correctly. The elevation must not be wrong. There is still winter ahead, spring ahead, and how much more it will rain,” he said.
According to the governor, attention is currently focused on two main issues: promptly fixing the existing problem and performing quality work so it does not happen again in the future.
He also noted that rushing repairs while the rain is still ongoing could affect quality.
“If you do it now while it is raining, the quality will be poor. For now, provide an opportunity for people to pass,” said the regional governor.
Adiz Boboyev also noted that through critical materials from bloggers, he is becoming aware of certain problems in the city.
According to him, activity on social media should be accepted not just as criticism, but as an opportunity to identify problems faster.
“Often, by reading the comments of our bloggers and reading on social media, I am learning many things. This is a good thing,” the governor said.
In his opinion, it is natural to have certain shortcomings in the work process, but the important thing is to see them in time and eliminate them.
Notably, the problem itself became known to the general public through videos spread on social media. The governor evaluates this situation not as fleeing from criticism, but rather as an opportunity to see the problem faster and look for a solution.
Now the main issue is how the given promises will be fulfilled in practice.
Because the collapse of the newly built sidewalk after heavy rain shows that we need to look more seriously not only at quick repairs, but also at design, construction quality, and the acceptance process.
In this situation in Samarkand, bloggers pointed out the problem, and the khokimiyat stated that it has started to eliminate it. Now the most interesting question for the public is — will this place be flooded again during the next heavy rain, or will the problem truly be solved?
