site.btaPolikraishte Residents Protest Over Prolonged Power and Water Outages

Residents of the village of Polikraishte, Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality, protested power and water outages by briefly blocking the main Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo road on Saturday. The demonstration followed the declaration of a state of emergency in the village.

Protesters, gathering by the local school and bus station, demanded clear information about when electricity and water supplies would be restored. Frequent breakdowns in the village have gone unresolved, prompting calls for transparency on repair timelines.

Mayor Nikolay Rashkov and Municipal Council Chair Ognyan Stoyanov attended the protest, confirming that the main pipeline from Yovkovtsi Dam, which supplies the area, requires urgent rehabilitation. Polikraishte lacks a backup reservoir, and old pipes have failed to withstand pressure fluctuations, causing repeated outages.

At a meeting in Razvitie – 1884 Community Centre, officials explained that Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality has budgeted BGN 97,000 in 2025 to update a legacy project for replacing the water mains. The revised plan is expected in early January for swift approval and financing, alongside immediate repairs to the problematic pipeline. Other options, such as reviving old wells or building an additional buffer reservoir, are also under consideration.

Bulgaria faced widespread water shortages in 2025: at the summer peak 460 settlements reported scarcity, with around 160,000 people still affected in mid-October. The government set up a National Water Board and pledged long-term upgrades, while saying no rationing is planned for Veliko Tarnovo Region (supplied by Yovkovtsi). Health authorities reported no deviations in drinking-water quality in rationed areas, and targeted crisis measures continue in hotspots such as Omurtag.