Working in Bondo GR Six Years After Landslide Exceeds Budget
Published: Thursday, Aug 10th 2023, 16:40
Aktualisiert am: Freitag, 13. Oktober 2023, 14:12
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Six years after the devastating rockfall in Bondo GR, the restoration and safety works are progressing as planned. However, the costs for this have increased by more than 25 percent. On August 23, 2017, three million cubic meters of rock detached from Piz Cengalo, above the village of Bondo, and rested on the glacier below. This caused a mudslide of around four million cubic meters of debris. Just 30 seconds after the rockfall, the debris reached the valley floor and the two hundred-person village. Around 150 people had to leave their homes for a month and a half. Eight hikers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were buried and killed, their bodies still not found. Dozens of buildings were completely destroyed and countless others damaged. The damage to public and private infrastructure was estimated at over 50 million francs. Progress on rebuilding - but more expensive By 2021, the village was cleared of the rock material. Since then, reconstruction and renovation work has been underway. However, the budgeted costs of 42 million francs are increasing significantly. The causes are not only due to the prices of raw materials or fuel, but also to the lack of competition between companies and underestimated costs. The work is currently focused on flood protection and the relocation of high-voltage cables. All five destroyed bridges are to be rebuilt. Question of guilt still open The question of the authorities' complicity in the deaths of the hikers continues to occupy the judiciary. Relatives of the victims obtained a reopening of the discontinued criminal investigation from the Federal Court. They believe that, in view of the known danger of rockfalls, it was wrong to keep the hiking trails in Val Bondasca open. In February 2023, the cantonal court of Grisons rejected an expert proposed by the public prosecutor's office, considering him to be biased. The public prosecutor's office must now find a new expert.nnnnnnnn
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