Rector of the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU), Academician Vladimer Papava, representatives of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, research fellows and administrative staff of the TSU Hydrometeorology Laboratory visited the area of the laboratory hit by the June 13 deadly flood.
TSU Rector Vladimer Papava said: “Regretfully, one building of the Hydrometeorology Laboratory has been completely destructed; the other building has been damaged. This laboratory is necessary for our country. Our experts will release particular recommendations in the shortest possible time about what should be done to prevent similar disasters in the future. We will do our utmost to restore this laboratory and we pin hopes on government assistance.”
“Regretfully, the flood caused significant damage to the Hydrometeorology Laboratory. Laboratory equipment, devices and textbooks are completely damaged. Along with research activities, intensive educational process was underway at the laboratory. Only during the spring semester over 500 BA, MA and PhD students from the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences attended lectures and practical classes at the laboratory,” Head of the Hydrometeorology Laboratory, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Merab Alaverdashvili said.
The Hydrometeorology Laboratory at the TSU Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences had been functioning since 1962. It was located in the vicinity of the Vake-Saburtalo road, the Vere River channel and occupied an area of about 0.6 ha.
The main reason for establishing the laboratory was a disastrous flood that hit the Vere River in 1960 and caused flooding of the Tbilisi Zoo as well as the houses located in the Vere River floodplain. So, it became necessary to study thoroughly the hydrological regime of the Vere River, to carry out continuous monitoring and organize this process at a scientific level.
Since the day of its establishment the laboratory had been involved in the faculty’s educational process. Each semester hundreds of students were attending lectures and practical classes. Students from TSU, as well as other higher educational institutions (Technical, Agrarian and Sokhumi Universities) were undergoing field practice at the laboratory during summer period. In addition, geography teachers from secondary schools were offered training courses.
Two buildings were located on the flood-affected area of the laboratory, involving lecture halls and working rooms, as well as a library, two meteorological fields, hanging hydrometric bridge, and self-recording tide gauge. The hydrological regime of the Vere River was being studied at the laboratory. Daily observations aimed to study water levels and temperature as well as sanitary flow measurements were carried out. It should be noted that the National Environmental Agency of Georgia was using the materials obtained at the laboratory. The street, where the laboratory was located, was named after one of its founders, Academician Givi Svanidze, and the lecture hall existing at the laboratory was named after Professor Noe Ukleba.
The laboratory was extremely important for TSU and the materials obtained there were essential for the assessment of ecological condition, especially as it was one of the few stations existing in Georgia.
Foreign experts gave high evaluation to the laboratory and it was agreed to use it as an educational center in MA program “Integrated Water Resources Management.”
