Relocation of 10,000 residents continue in Black Sea province

ARTVİN

The relocation of about 10,000 residents in the Black Sea province of Artvin’s Yusufeli district continues as the district is expected to get flooded due to the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant nearby.

The project Yusufeli Dam and a hydroelectric power plant were initiated on Lake Çoruh, one of the largest rivers in Northeastern Anatolia.

With the foundation laid on Feb. 26, 2013, and its body construction completed, Yusufeli Dam is the highest dam in Türkiye, as it has a body height of 275 meters, and is the third-highest dam in the world in the category of double curvature thin arch dam type.

With the end of construction of the dam and plant, 5,000 residences, 270 workplaces and 9,430 decares of agricultural land in the district center and villages will be flooded.

New settlements were established at the foot of the mountains for the residents of the seven villages that will be flooded.

Within the scope of the relocation of the district to its new location, two-story houses in local architecture were built in re-established settlements, while a total of 520 village houses were also built.

Public buildings such as government houses, security, gendarmerie, courthouses, primary and secondary schools, high schools, mufti’s offices and teachers’ houses were completed with the infrastructure works carried out in three regions in 10 stages.

Hulusi Ocak, the headman of one of the villages that will be flooded, said that they formed a single neighborhood from the three neighborhoods that were expropriated due to the construction of the dam. He also said that the deficiencies of the houses built by the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) are being determined and eliminated.

The great migration in the district, which has been changed six times in its 152-year history, will be completed in 2023.