Trencin Declares Emergency Due to Falling Rocks from Castle Cliff

Trencin, 9 November (TASR) - Rocks are falling from the castle cliff and the walls of Trencin Castle, so the city's crisis management team has convened and Mayor Richard Rybnicek has declared an emergency in Trencin as of 12 p.m. until further notice, TASR has learnt at Rybnicek's press conference on Monday. According to the Trencin mayor, falling rocks are now also threatening the former wheel museum below the castle. He estimates that this emergency situation could last for more than a year. "During this emergency, the city of Trencin and Trencin self-governing region must carry out various geological surveys so that, together with the region, we can address the situation in a systematic and meaningful way," stated Rybnicek. According to director of Municipal Services and Forest Management of the City of Trencin Stefan Skultety, this is an unusual situation because the castle cliff belongs to the city of Trencin, while the castle itself belongs to Trencin region. The city has therefore also invited representatives of the region to help to address the problem. "The problem with the castle cliff began at the start of this year; we identified falling rocks during the renovation of the County House. We had to suspend the renovation work while remedial measures were carried out. In October, the situation recurred in other areas, particularly above the site of the former wheel museum. One stone fell from the castle, causing further stones to fall from the castle wall. Later, another stone fell from the castle cliff, and we also identified small stones falling onto nearby garages," he stated. Skultety added that on Friday and Saturday (6-7 November), climbers cleared the critical areas, and on Monday the crisis management team proposed the next steps - monitoring the cliff. It is necessary to clear the cliff, carry out a geological survey and undertake subsequent remediation. The city will apply for funding for the survey and remediation from the Environmental Fund. According to Skultety, the costs could run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros. am/mcs