The FINANCIAL — The natural disaster hit Oni municipality of Racha region on 28 July. Roads and bridges were heavily destroyed by the floods. The rains have also caused heavy damage to agricultural lands, fruit trees and farms. These were the main source of income for many affected families. The European Union is providing €80.000 in humanitarian funding to assist the most affected people following the disaster. This EU funding supports the Red Cross in delivering much-needed relief assistance to help those who were most affected.
According to the governor of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Archil Japaridze, due to heavy rain and flooding, 12 villages were cut off from the rest of the world. According to him, 10 bridges were damaged. Japaridze said that electricity was not supplied to these villages because the high voltage lines were damaged. He also stated that more than 2,000 people were remaining cut off from the rest of the world, including tourists in the Shovi and several other settlements. Roads and houses were damaged by rains and flooding. On 1 August Roads department stated that the traffic with 7 villages had been restored while 5 villages were remaining without roadway, according to Georgian Public Broadcasting.
Heavy equipment was involved in the disaster cleanup operations. The 400 households that were left without water due to the damaged water distribution network were receiving cisterns of drinking water. Steel pipes coming out of the old and new water supply facilities in the village of Zhizhoreti had been damaged as a result of the flooding of the Rioni River.
The main road had collapsed in eight places, as have several sections of the road leading from Oni to Shovi and inner rural roads. Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said that bridges need to be fully restored in Oni municipality, the main highway had been seriously damaged as a result of the flood and that the flood caused more than 50 million GEL worth of damage, according to agenda.ge.
The European Union is providing €80.000 in humanitarian funding to assist the most affected people following the disaster. This EU funding supports the Red Cross in delivering much needed relief assistance in the form of food parcels, hygiene kits and cash support to help those most affected cover their basic needs. The humanitarian aid will directly benefit 3,170 people whose homes were flooded or who lost their crops in the floods. The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The rains have caused heavy damage to agricultural lands, farms and fruit trees, which are the main source of income for many affected families. The southern Caucasus is particularly prone to natural disasters and hazards. For several years, the EU has been supporting Disaster Risk Reduction under the Disaster Preparedness Programme, which has contributed to increasing preparedness and reducing vulnerabilities of the most hazard-exposed communities.
The European Union and its Member States are the world’s leading donor of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Through the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department, the European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the European Union provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs.
Last month, the Government of Georgia, with the support of the EU, awarded the first 11 municipalities under the Pilot Integrated Regional Development Programme with a total of GEL 5 million in grants in the area of local infrastructure and business development. These grants are part of the Government’s GEL 220 million Pilot Integrated Regional Development Grant Programme, of which GEL 186 million will come from EU funding. Read more.
Moreover, In the frame of the GRETA project (Green Economy: Sustainable Mountain Tourism and Organic Agriculture), the EU, Sweden and Austria have launched the Tourism Development Initiative (TDI), a call for proposals for grants in the area of tourism development in the municipalities of Mestia, Lentekhi, Tsageri, Oni, Ambrolauri, Sachkhere, Chiatura and Tkibuli. According to the official statement, Tourism Development Initiative (TDI) support per applicant or group of applicants will be granted between €5,000 and €50,000 with the co-financing share at minimum 10% of the total budget. The duration of a project must be at least 6 months and may not exceed 24 months. All TDI activities must have finished by 30 September 2022.
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