Praid, on the edge of the precipice: the ecological bomb that threatens an entire region

The residents of Praid live daily under a silent but devastating threat, a real time bomb that could explode at any time in the form of a major ecological disaster, warned, at the Summer University in Băile Tuşnad, Deak Gyorgy, director of the National Institute for Research and Development for Environmental Protection, quoted by the website Szekelyhon.ro.

According to the environmental protection expert, the situation is so serious that any discussion about the economic or tourist development of Praid becomes irrelevant in the absence of urgent and well-founded intervention to ensure the safety of the environment and the residents. Mr. Deak warns that the lack of integrated monitoring systems, the absence of forecasts and the inaction of the authorities are transforming the locality into a vulnerable territory, at the mercy of chance. Comparing the situation in Praid with the disaster in Ocnele Mari, where the collapsed salt mine was on the verge of causing a tragedy with multiple victims, the expert emphasizes that the most important lesson has been ignored: without rapid interventions based on real data, luck becomes the only barrier to a catastrophe.

According to the INCDPM director, at the moment, improvised solutions, such as the pipeline system that attempts to divert the Corund stream, only postpone the inevitable. The advanced state of degradation of the Telegdy mine is already considered irreversible, and the chances of saving the sanatorium are now below 50%. Deak Gyorgy also argues that it is also serious that state institutions do not cooperate, do not provide access to essential data and ignore proposals for reconfiguring the infrastructure, despite clear warnings. Everything seems suspended in a dangerous administrative silence, in which the lack of dialogue between experts and political decision-makers fuels the imminent risk. And if the worst-case scenario comes true and a million cubic meters of brine escapes into the environment, the disaster will not be limited to Praid. The wave of pollution would reach Hungary via the Mureş and Danube rivers, potentially contaminating the Black Sea, affecting entire regions and fragile ecosystems.

In this context, Biro Barna Botond, president of the Harghita County Council, stated in Băile Tuşnad that what is happening cannot be simply labeled as a "technical error”, but a huge loss of heritage and wealth for the Romanian state. The mine, once a constant source of income, was treated like a cash cow that the state irresponsibly decided to slaughter, said the president of the Harghita County Council, who drew attention to the fact that tourism in Praid is currently collapsing, and the state, instead of proactively managing the crisis, has failed miserably.

Poor communication, the lack of an integrated vision and the almost total economic dependence on salt and tourism have transformed the area into an extremely vulnerable mono-economy. Successive crises - the pandemic and now geological risks - have shown that the region's entire source of income can evaporate in an instant. The lack of consultation between experts makes everything worse. In a bitter but true formulation, Biro Barna Botond states that "if two lawyers have three opinions, then two experts have ten” and that what is needed now is not excessive opinions, but responsibility, clear, courageous decisions, based on competence and concrete data.

Praid has no time to lose. Either act immediately, or the entire community remains captive under a silent but deadly threat.