‘Limnes’ slippage due to underground water

By George Psyllides

LAND subsidence in the Limnes area of Pissouri is being investigated, the interior ministry said on Friday, and measures will be put in place.

The ministry said the problem in the Pissouri area was mainly due to the underground water, which is close to the surface in combination with the geological conditions of the area.

“The ground, up to a depth of 16 metres, is made up of loose material that came from past landslide in the wider area,” the ministry said in a written statement. “The ground morphology does not allow the water to escape, as the area’s name ‘Limnes’ (lakes) denotes.”

The ministry said government experts were investigating the matter in depth in a bid to put measures in place. Projects designed to channel rain water away from the area will be expanded and new wells will be drilled to monitor the underground water.

Area homeowners have appealed to the government for help as dozens of houses sustained structural damage due to land slippage.

Damage includes cracks in interior and exterior walls, swimming pools, roads, pavements, footpaths, retaining walls, drains, water pipes and other infrastructure.

It is believed that upwards of 50 homes, Cypriot and British owned, have been affected in some way.

The announcement followed a similar incident in Pyrgos, Limassol, where a road collapsed and left with gaping crack just weeks after its construction.

Five homes are directly affected on Dimokratias Street, with people having to use nearby fields to get to and from their properties.

The ministry said this project concerned a private development and construction had been carried out by a private contractor hired by the owners of the plots in the area.

The district administration had never issued a final approval certificate for the project, the ministry said.

Following its completion, government inspectors determined that it had been damaged and instructed the owners to repair the road, a ministry statement said.

The owners carried out the repairs, completed in the summer of 2014, but soon afterwards, cracks were observed on the pavement. The situation promptly worsened, ending up in a collapse spanning around 20 metres.

Authorities have asked the company to prepare a study to determine the cause of collapse, the ministry said.