This winter Kyivans have barely seen a patch of dry pavement since the first snowfall on Dec. 2. But it wasn’t until last week that icy sidewalks became a real problem.
Kyiv broke an
unfortunate record on Jan. 21,
when 579 people sought medical treatment after falling on the streets. The next
day 573 people joined them. According to the city health department, that is
about four times more than trauma wards receive each day.
The traumatology department of City Hospital No.1
told Kyiv Post that the department’s doctors could not comment because they are
overloaded by patients waiting in line for treatment.
Questions were raised among Kyivans about
how effective city services are when it comes to making sidewalks safe in
winter time. Local media shared Kyiv state administration head Olexander
Popov’s message, in which he asked citizens to be careful when walking the city
streets, and was heavily mocked by commentators.
Anatoly Galenovsky, spokesman for state
Ukravtodor company, charged with cleaning snow and ice from the streets, blames
the unfortunate weather for the situation.
“On Monday (Jan. 21) we had unique weather.
It was raining while the temperature was minus five, so all the water froze
immediately, covering the streets with ice,” he explains. “Almost nothing can
be done in such conditions. That is very rare. Kyiv didn’t see below-zero rain
since winter of 2006.”
To melt ice Ukravtodor sprinkles salt or a
mix of salt and sand on the streets. But both have disadvantages. Salt harms
green spaces and is corrosive, while sand chokes up the sewage system. Now
Ukravtodor says it will test new a anti-ice substance, produced in Russia, but
even if it will be considered appropriate, it won’t be used until next winter.
To sprinkle streets and sidewalks with
salt and sand, the company uses 102 trucks. But that is not enough to quickly
serve the whole city.
According to Galenovsky, each Kyiv street
is classified according to several levels of importance – the system that
Ukravtodor uses when deciding where to clean the streets first. Topping the
ranking are busy streets close to metro stations and streets that have a lot of
wiring and sewerage underneath. Private housing streets are considered least
important. It takes Ukravtodor up to one week to serve them.
Another problem, Galenovsky says, is that
sidewalks in Kyiv are owned by four institutions, including Ukravtodor, the
City Transport Department (sidewalks near bus stops), Kyiv Metro (sidewalks
near subway stations) and local housing offices. To complain about slippery
sidewalks, one must know which organization is in charge of cleaning it.
Meanwhile, acting mayor Popov publicly
threatened to fire heads of district administrations if the ice situation
doesn’t change soon.
Walking on ice tips
Buy anti-slip ice grabbers. Made of
rubber, they contain flat metal spikes that are useful on both icy and snowy
streets. They can be found in sport equipment shops for Hr 75-95 or can be
bought online.
Use the penguin walk. When walking, shift
forward your center of gravity and tilt a bit. Keep your knees loose, your feet
pointed slightly outside and your hands extended to the sides for balance.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at [email protected].
