[Editorial] Don't pass the buck

Agencies shift responsibility for tunnel flooding; effective water management needed

The causes and background of the Osong underpass flooding accident in North Chungcheong Province are coming to light in dribs and drabs.

Further details will emerge now that the government has launched its inspection, but facts revealed so far show that the anti-disaster response system was not working properly due to insensitivity to safety and complacency.

The flooding of the Gungpyeong-2 underpass tunnel in Osong-eup in the Heungdeok district of Cheongju was a fatal accident that could have been avoided if only vehicle traffic into the tunnel had been blocked early on.

However, administrative agencies responsible for protecting the lives of residents only seek to shift the responsibility.

The provincial office was watching the situation through closed-circuit TV monitors after receiving the flood warning from the Geum River Flood Control Office four hours before the accident happened. The provincial office failed to control traffic through the underpass.

It says it could not do so because flood waters filled the tunnel in just a few minutes, meaning the accident was beyond human control.

The provincial office also blames the embankment of the Miho River, a tributary of the Geum River, that broke, inundating the tunnel and trapping 17 vehicles that were passing there. It says that no problem would have occurred if the height of the broken portion of the embankment had not been lowered. The collapsed portion was part of a temporary embankment rebuilt because of ongoing construction work to widen the Miho River.

The city of Cheongju was also informed of the danger of flooding. But the city office, noting that the provincial office has statutory authority to control traffic on the road in question, says there were no instructions from the provincial office.

The Heungdeok-gu office received notification from the Geum River Flood Control Office two hours and 10 minutes before the tunnel was submerged that traffic to the tunnel needed to be restricted. But the district office reportedly said it has no manual on disaster response. All the district office did was let the city know about the message it had received from the flood control office.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene upon a bystander's emergency 119 call about the danger of a break in the levee, but left the scene without taking any measures after notifying the city of the situation. They were irresponsible.

Police received emergency 112 calls twice -- about the likely break in the Miho River embankment and later about the danger of the tunnel being submerged by water from the river flooding and request for traffic control to the tunnel. But police officers were dispatched to Gungpyeong-1 tunnel, not to Gungpyeong-2. Police said they failed to send officers to the Gungpyeong-2 underpass because of a “manpower shortage.”

This confusing and incompetent administration has something to do with the previous Moon Jae-in government’s “policy to unify water management.”

The government transferred responsibility for water management from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the Ministry of Environment. The Environment Ministry has undertaken the job of managing water for the five major rivers and delegated tasks of managing the remaining rivers to local autonomous governments.

The Environment Ministry delegated authority to manage the Miho River to North Chungcheong Province, which delegated it to Cheongju.

So, government agencies blame one another. It becomes unclear where the main responsibility lies for managing local tributaries, and blind spots can be formed in managing them.

The Miho River ran into danger of flooding whenever heavy rains fell. However, Cheongju could not dredge it because the Geum River Basin Environment Office of the Environment Ministry did not draw up the related budget. The Environment Ministry is said to have instead focused on water quality.

Those local rivers prone to flooding need to be managed by the central government. A new system to manage rivers, including tributaries, effectively must be established quickly. The government should also reconsider which agency should take the main responsibility for water management focused on flooding.

By Korea Herald(khnews@heraldcorp.com)