"We've carried out the necessary work": road crews and housing and utilities services in Tatarstan are ready for the holidays.

      About 1.1 million tons of de-icing materials have been stockpiled for the roads

      "The heating season is proceeding normally"

      During the New Year holidays special attention will be paid to ensuring heat supply to apartment buildings, First Deputy Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing and Communal Services of the Republic of Tatarstan Damir Shaidullin said at today's briefing at the Government House of the Republic of Tatarstan. "All heat-supplying and heat-network organizations have received readiness certificates for the heating season. The heating season is proceeding normally now. We hope that we will not face problems with consumers' heat supply in the future," he said.

      In addition to the housing and communal services organizations themselves, the enterprise Tatleasing is on standby. It has a stock of emergency technical materials and equipment, the first deputy minister added.

      According to him, the enterprise has 10 diesel generator units with a total capacity of 645 kW, three vehicles on KAMAZ chassis with crane-manipulators, five lighting masts and two mobile boiler units with capacities of 2.5 and 3.5 MW.

      "All our boiler houses have backup power sources. Some boilers run on fuel oil. In other words, there is a backup power source in every boiler house," Shaidullin said.

      In total, more than 1.2 thousand organizations in Tatarstan provide housing and communal services. "They have all carried out the necessary work to ensure uninterrupted and high-quality provision of services on weekends and holidays," he emphasized.

      The Ministry of Construction, Architecture and Housing and Communal Services of Tatarstan has organized a round-the-clock dispatch service; it can be reached at (843) 231-14-10. The service responds promptly to citizens' calls, monitors emergency situations and their elimination.

      Residents will be asked to move their cars if they impede yard cleaning and garbage collection

      During the holidays special attention will be paid to clearing courtyards of snow and timely removal of garbage. These issues will also be responded to promptly, Damir Shaidullin said.

      "During the New Year holidays the generation of household waste increases. Two regional operators work in the republic who remove garbage from the territories of rural settlements," he said.

      The regional operators have set up duty services that monitor the situation together with local self-government bodies, emphasized the first deputy minister of construction, architecture and housing and communal services.

      According to him, it is important that private vehicles do not hinder timely garbage removal from courtyards and the clearing of courtyard areas of snow by special equipment.

      "Managing companies face many difficulties in clearing courtyards during heavy snowfall if the yards are full of cars. In such cases it is impossible to carry out quality cleaning. The same situation applies to garbage removal. Dispatch services collect information in real time to take measures. They interact with managing companies, homeowners' associations, including via building chats, so that residents can temporarily move their cars," Shaidullin noted.

      "De-icing material has been stockpiled in full"

      Road services are also ready to work in the winter period. More than 1,100 pieces of special equipment have been prepared for snow clearing and distribution of de-icing materials on regional roads, Deputy Minister of Transport and Road Management of the Republic of Tatarstan Ranis Fayzullin reported.

      "Contracting organizations monitor the condition of equipment, so it is renewed in a timely manner. There is a supply of fuel at the production bases of the contracting organizations. There will be no problems with fuel and lubricants supply," he said.

      "De-icing material has been stockpiled in full," the deputy minister of transport and road management added. "For the maintenance of regional roads in winter, 727 thousand tons of sand-salt mixture and technical salt have been stockpiled, about 200 thousand tons of materials for federal roads, and about 190 thousand tons for local roads," he specified.

      The road situation is monitored using meteorological stations. In particular, 44 complexes operate on federal highways and 39 on the backbone network of regional roads. A Dispatch, Monitoring and Control Center also operates, whose staff assess the situation on the roads online, Fayzullin said.

      "In order to respond promptly to emergencies caused by hazardous meteorological phenomena in the winter period that may disrupt road traffic in Tatarstan, an interaction plan of ministries, departments and organizations — 'Buran' — has been approved," he noted.

      According to the deputy minister, contracting organizations have eight mobile warming points for drivers. In addition, 59 warming points are located near settlements closest to the roads. "In case of traffic jams, drivers and passengers will be taken to these points by all-terrain vehicles of the contracting organizations," he emphasized.

      The Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Tatarstan has a round-the-clock operational service. In case of non-standard situations on the roads drivers can call (843) 291-91-91.

      "Winter accidents are mostly related to driving into oncoming lanes or running off the road into ditches"

      Since November 1 road crews have organized day and night shifts to respond quickly to changing weather conditions, added Deputy Director of Glavtatdortans Zulfat Khanmurzin.

      A round-the-clock dispatch service also operates in the administration, which accepts Tatarstan residents' reports on road conditions at the same phone number: 8 (843) 291-91-91.

      "Most accidents that occur in the winter period are related to vehicles entering the oncoming lane or running off the carriageway into a ditch," Khanmurzin stated.

      To avoid accidents, he urged drivers to strictly follow traffic rules. "You need to calculate speed and distance; a visibility zone must be ensured while driving," he stressed.

      "Snow-fence barriers totaling about seven kilometers have been installed at 22 sites"

      For maintenance of federal highways in Tatarstan de-icing material has been stockpiled in advance in the amount of 165 thousand tons. To date, 52 thousand tons, or about 32% of the total volume, have already been used, said Deputy Head of the Volgo-Vyatka Road Maintenance Directorate Azat Gataullin.

      "Two types of de-icing material are mainly used on federal roads – sand-salt mixture and pure salt. A total of 336 units of road maintenance equipment are deployed on federal roads," he said.

      According to Gataullin, the number of machines that go out to clear routes depends on weather and road conditions.

      "Operational control over the condition of the road network is carried out, including by road meteorological stations and video complexes installed on routes. Patrol inspections of road sections are conducted. If necessary, prior treatment of the pavement with de-icing materials is carried out even before snowfall begins," he noted.

      Snow-drift-prone sections have also been identified on the republic's federal roads. About seven kilometers of snow-fence barriers have been installed at 22 such sites. "On 56 kilometers we will also form so-called snow-retaining trenches," Gataullin emphasized.

      He asked drivers to be especially attentive on the roads in adverse weather conditions and to strictly observe traffic rules.

      During the New Year holidays road crews will work around the clock. In addition, a round-the-clock duty dispatch service has been organized. In case of serious situations on federal roads drivers can call: 8 (843) 273-54-08.

      Photo: © "Tatar-inform"