Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100Tue, 28 Jul 2026 02:31:40 +0200https://english.radio.cz/chief-conservationist-defends-lack-permanent-flood-defences-prague-8065387© 2026 Radio Prague International As clean up work on Kampa Island and in the Lesser Quarter continues it is clear that the extent of the damage to this side of the riverbank was enormous. This has inevitably led to the question - could something have been done? In Wednesday's edition of the paper Lidove Noviny, the Culture Minister Pavel Dostal laid the blame firmly at the feet of the State Institute for the Preservation of Historic Buildings. He claimed that the institute had blocked attempts to build anti-flood defences at Kampa with the argument that permanent concrete defences would ruin the beauty of one of Europe's most unspoiled cityscapes. In fact, even before the floods a compromise on the issue had been reached, and Mr Dostal has now toned down his criticism. There are plans to start next year with the construction of removable flood defences, of the kind that worked well in the Old Town on the other bank of the river. But the problem remains. The riverbanks here are lower than in the Old Town, and you don't have to be a mathematician to work out that even with the planned barriers, on this occasion the waters of the Vltava would have swept over Kampa. So I called Mr Stulc earlier and asked him whether he still felt that removable barriers would be sufficient. encr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas)webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) https://english.radio.cz/sites/default/files/images/4f5197446b1f6808606b2a0aab5e5a67.png?timestamp=1583150525 https://english.radio.cz/chief-conservationist-defends-lack-permanent-flood-defences-prague-8065387 Radio Prague International Radio Prague International radio.prague.int@gmail.com clean 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9