Residents of Kotovo reported new water and heating outages.

Kotovo residents are again experiencing water and heating outages, and according to residents, the authorities are failing to address the problem of the deteriorating water supply network. A lawyer advised residents to contact Rospotrebnadzor and the prosecutor's office.

As reported by "Kavkazsky Uzel," in January, Kotovo residents reported that gas supplies were shut off in neighborhoods during severe frosts. The problem was particularly acute for residents of the private sector, whose homes are heated by boilers.

Kotovo residents again reported heat and water outages to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. On February 10, there was no heating in houses on Severnaya, Selskaya, Gubkina, Mira, Sverdlova, Zelenaya, Michurin, Bautsmanskaya, and Angarskaya Streets.

Irina Zdebskaya lives at 4 Sverdlova Street. "Our house is freezing, as always. Today [February 10th] we were expecting a commission regarding the heating. A notice was posted asking residents to be home. There was only one person on the commission. Representatives of the administration and the heating network simply ignored our house's problem," she complained.

According to the woman, a pump was installed in the basement of their building, "but it can't cope." "We call [the housing office workers] twice a day to drain [the water from the system] in the basement. The pump is pumping air. It lasts for about 12 hours. And from February 5th to 6th, the housing office dispatcher [...] refused to send a duty worker. It's -23 degrees outside, +15 in the apartment with the heater," Zdebskaya said.

The woman noted that every day she goes to fetch water "from a distant well" with a sled. "There's no other way. It's the 21st century, so to speak. Every I've been calling 911 and the dispatch center all day. It's no use! We probably need to go somewhere higher up, we need to call a group," Irina Zdebskaya complained.

A pond has formed in the Shumlyansky Park area due to leaks in the water supply system. Local resident Andrey Ivanov reported that wastewater is flowing into the Malaya Kazanka River from a broken sewer pipe near the bridge.

"The water supply and sewerage systems in Kotovo were last updated before perestroika. They are more than 90% worn out. If they try to update the main water main somehow, then when the pressure in the city network pipes increases, breaks begin. It's been like this all winter. The colder it is outside, the more frequent the breaks. Kotovo is a city of public utilities disaster, that's what they say here," said Andrey Ivanov. He noted that on February 10th, "water began flowing into apartments water, but it's not drinking water, it's yellow."

"Whenever there's a frost, they have a gust. And now you're sitting without water—you can't wash yourself or even face yourself," a user with the nickname Alexander was indignant in the "Public Control of the City of Kotovo" chat.

"Equipment was working near the entrance to the Vodokanal territory today, digging a trench," reported the administrator of the "Public Control of the City" chat.

The Kotovsky District Administration website has no information on the progress of the cleanup of the accident in the heating and water supply networks. An administration employee declined to speak to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by phone about this topic.

Lawyer Sergey Ivaschenko, assessing the situation in the district center of Kotovo, noted "clear violations of citizens' constitutional rights to comfortable housing and a safe and healthy living environment."

According to the federal law "On Water Supply and Sanitation" (No. 416-FZ), providing water services to the population "especially in winter during freezing conditions" is "the direct responsibility of city and district authorities," he explained.

"I did not see an action plan on the district administration's website to address the issue of drinking water supply to residents' homes. Article 21 of the law directly requires this. There is also no information about water delivery, which should have been done after a day without water supply," the lawyer said.

He recommended that residents file complaints with Rospotrebnadzor and the prosecutor's office. According to the lawyer, if water and heat supply in the district center of Kotovo is interrupted for a long time due to severe frosts, local authorities should approach the regional government with an initiative to declare a state of emergency in the city, in accordance with Federal Law No. 68-FZ "On the Protection of Population and Territories from Natural and Man-Made Emergencies."

As a reminder, during the 2025 New Year holidays, residents of Kotovo were left without water due to an accident that occurred on December 28, 2024. The high alert regime, introduced in connection with the accident only on January 2, was lifted on January 7. After water supply was restored in January, residents of Kotovo complained about poor water quality.

On June 11, 2025, residents of Kotovo were warned of an upcoming indefinite water shutoff, although by that time many residents had not had water for three weeks. On June 19, authorities reported on water delivery to Kotovo amid another accident – ​​water supply, according to residents, was only restored for two days.

In July, residents of Kotovo called for a state of emergency. They explained that repair crews were unable to fix the faulty water supply network, and water supply to homes on most streets had been cut off.