Time is running out – how can we stop decaying industries from causing environmental disasters in Eastern Ukraine? - Ukraine - ReliefWeb

In Ukraine, 3.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2020.

Already facing the protraction and consequences of armed conflict every day, local populations in Eastern Ukraine are also exposed to increased disaster risks linked to flooding coal mines, chemical spills, and toxic landfills. In fact, the decaying industry of Eastern Ukraine, a region where armed conflict continues to this day, creates the conditions for a large-scale ecological and human disaster.

In 2020 still, daily shelling occurs along the “contact line” which splits Government Controlled from Non-Government Controlled Areas in Donbas. Along this line sit chemical plants, critical water treatment facilities, public utilities and other hazardous infrastructure, which would mean dangerous chemicals seeping into the ground and contaminating water tables.

Incidents occurring on one side of the contact line can and most likely will have impact on populations and systems on the other side – disasters do not discriminate.

As a result, contaminated drinking water sources will lead to health problems such as a cancer, stomach diseases, etc. Lives are at stake. Moreover, the contamination of cultivated fields will reduce the harvest rate and cattle breeding, while increasing migration and leading to further reduction in the labor force that can participate in the economic recovery of Donbas.

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Prevent, Prepare, Protect: The 3P Consortium

A group of international and national NGOs engaged in Ukraine – ACTED, IMPACT Initiatives, Right to Protection, the Danish Red Cross, the Austrian Red Cross, and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society – formed the 3P Consortium in 2019 with financial support from European Union to reduce disaster risk. Under the leadership of ACTED, the 3P Consortium has been implementing activities to reduce vulnerability and enhance disaster management in eastern Ukraine.

3P partners are united by their desire to prevent large-scale disasters through support for improved planning and sector reform, while preparing first responders and communities to respond to conflict and industrial risks and protecting civilian populations by advocating for investments before, during and after disasters.

They’re also united by their desire to raise awareness of these risks, and encourage efforts to reduce vulnerability to their impact if they occur. Thus, this video presents actions taken to mitigate the risks related to mine flooding, and protect lives, ecosystems and infrastructure in vulnerable, conflict-affected Donbas. It is set in Toretsk, a city of over 70,000 inhabitants located only 5km away from the contact line in Donetsk oblast. In Toretsk, mine flooding is an imminent threat, and 3P partners want you to know.

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