Return of heat to Minsk apartments may be delayed until evening. Citizens describe the scale of the accident

CHP-4 in Minsk. Photo: LookByMedia

From lunch to evening: how promises changed

The first reports of a malfunction began to appear in the morning. On the 115.bel portal, the cause of the outage was listed as "shutdown of CHP-4 equipment," and the planned time for service restoration was indicated as 12:00—12:30. This gave hope that apartments would not have time to cool down.

Павялічыць

A message about the deadline for eliminating the consequences of the accident, which Minsk residents saw on 115.bel in the morning. Photo from social networks

However, as of 13:00, the situation changed. Now, service 115 reports that work is underway to "restore hydraulic parameters after a malfunction at CHP-4," and the deadlines for returning heat and hot water have shifted to the evening.

Павялічыць

Current deadlines on the 115.bel website.

New planned deadline: by 18:00 on January 19. The "Actual deadline" field currently shows an ellipsis, which may mean that solving the problem could be delayed even further.

Earlier, there were reports of damage to the heating main and traffic restrictions on Akademika Karskogo Street, where there was dense steam fog. Eyewitnesses also published videos from the neighboring Shkolnaya Street, which was engulfed in thick fog from boiling water.

Where are people already freezing?

While emergency brigades battle the consequences of the rupture, social networks have become the main platform for information exchange. Users from different parts of the city are taking roll calls, confirming the scale of the incident. Most reports come from large residential areas — Sukharava, Malinauka, Kuntsaushchyna, and Kamennaya Horka.

"In Sukharava, everything is cold, we're not taking anything off."
"Malinauka, no heating."
"Liabyazhy, also without hot water and heating."
"In our house, heating problems started already on Friday, it was +15 in the apartments... And at night, it seems the fun began, by morning the house chat was already bursting."

The main question: why turn off water in summer?

The most popular topic for outrage was the expediency of annual preventive maintenance. People do not understand why they are forced to endure two weeks without hot water in summer if this does not guarantee uninterrupted system operation in winter, especially during the strongest frosts.

"Poor people. This is yet another question about what they actually test in summer when the water is turned off."
"The money for planned checks in summer, when water is turned off, was intentionally stolen. And such accidents are then, of course, accidental."
"This is so there won't be any accidents in winter, they turn off the water for two weeks in summer, right? Did I get anything wrong?"

Endure or demand?

A real battle erupted in the comments between two groups of users. Some urge not to dramatize the situation, reminding of difficult conditions in other countries or in the past, while others insist that in the 21st century, a consumer has the right to quality services for which they pay.

Proponents of the "don't whine" position, such as blogger Andrei JustFray, write about the "greenhouse conditions" of Belarusians and force majeure:

"In Minsk, of course, very greenhouse social conditions have been created. When you live in Georgia for a long time, where electricity and water can suddenly disappear every other day... Minus 15 — what kind of winter is that, well, the heating was turned off, sunny, they're repairing it, everyone was notified in detail."

"People, it wasn't turned off specially or out of spite for you! Stop whining already! Believe me, the services also want to fix everything faster."

Their opponents retort that one should compare with the best, not the worst:

"We don't care what's happening in Georgia. Why compare with where it's worse? In Iceland, for example, the entire heating and water supply system is duplicated."

"Unfortunately, I am forced to endure because there is no alternative. But at the same time, I can and will express my dissatisfaction with the unsatisfactory quality of the service."

Thanks to workers and Epiphany humor

Despite the disputes and the cold, many Minsk residents maintain their composure and sense of humor. People understand that while they write comments in warm sweaters, emergency crews are working in the frost, trying to bring warmth back to the city. Thanks to ordinary workers are quite common:

"Truly important are the engineers, plumbers, and workers who go to work on this frosty night... Thank you, people of ordinary but very important professions."
"The power engineers are great. Yes, it burst. It happens, what can you do. But to quickly revive everything — I take my hat off to that."

And of course, the situation was not without irony. Minsk residents joke that utility workers took the traditions of Epiphany too literally and decided to arrange bathing right in the apartments:

"CHP-4 Minsk decided to arrange Epiphany bathing for everyone)))".
"And all night I dreamed that water was overflowing somewhere, but it was gurgling in the radiators. Time to light the stoves."
"You unlocked childhood memories... Did Belarusians start heating bricks?"

It remains to be hoped that the forecasts for 18:00 will be justified, and residents of the affected areas will meet the evening of the holiday in warmth.

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