Heating problems continue in Bodaybo, Irkutsk Oblast, following a major utility failure last winter. With the season’s first snowfall, residents have once again complained about cold or barely warm radiators and said they have been forced to use electric heaters.
According to residents, some homes still have no heating, while temperatures remain low in some apartments. “There’s snow on the ground outside, and here we are with two heaters, wearing wool socks and keeping the boiler on just so our child can at least wash their hands. I can’t imagine what kind of winter awaits us,” one local resident wrote. Others fear that the repairs carried out ahead of the heating season were insufficient: “They did such a bad job welding the heating main that it’s already bursting!”
This is not the first utility crisis Bodaybo has faced over the past year. In August, the town experienced gasoline shortages. In July, washed-out roads left Bodaybo partially cut off from the rest of the region. After a water intake station was damaged in May, residents were unable to use tap water. In January, more than 1,500 people were left without water or heating in temperatures below –40°C. A local state of emergency was declared in the town, and a criminal investigation was opened following the utility failure.