Municipal stadium in Mandra also violated zoning code
The locker and pump room of the municipal sports stadium in Mandra, western Attica, was built over a stream illegally, an inspection has found, making it the second municipal property to be found in serious violation of zoning rules.
According to the Athens-Macedonia news agency (ANA-MPA), a team of experts from the General Secretariat of Sports has ordered the demolition of the buildings, as they sustained irreparable damage during heavy floods that claimed more than 20 lives in the seaside town in November.
The secretariat's civil engineers have submitted their report, which found that the municipal authority violated the zoning code when it allowed construction to take place over a flood stream, to General Inspector for Public Administration Maria Papaspyrou, the ANA-MPA reported.
Late last month Papaspyrou issued a decision finding that a string of serious oversights resulted in the extensive loss of life and property damage in November’s floods.
The report pointed in particular to the failure of state, regional and local authorities to curb or reverse illegal construction over the course of decades that had clogged up the streams of Soures and Aghia Ekaterini, which channel rainwater down the foothills of Mount Pateras into the Gulf of Elefsina.
It also accused the municipal authority of zoning violations over its vehicle depot, where several bodies were found buried under deep mud after being carried away in the torrent.
The most recent report regarding the municipal stadium will be added to a growing mountain of evidence pointing at the failure of the state apparatus at every level to safeguard residents’ lives and properties in Mandra.
