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Municipality begins Ayamama demolitions
In the first of the demolitions, which began yesterday, municipal teams took down illegal structures belonging to Botel Bobin Teli Kablo Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. and cargo transport company Yurtiçi Kargo. Many business owners in the area, including a Holiday Inn, have already taken down unlicensed structures belonging to their companies such as retaining walls and similar structures.
Speaking to reporters during the demolitions, İstanbul Municipal Police Chief Mustafa Tahmaz said business owners in the area had been warned about a month ago, adding that many have taken down their unlicensed structures themselves. “We will demolish 108 buildings owned by 34 businesses. Later, we will start rehabilitation work on the riverbed here,” he said.
Floods that hit İstanbul on Sept. 8-9 led to more than 40 deaths largely due to illegally built structures around the Ayamama Creek. The creek overflowed during torrential downpours, resulting in deadly floods.
The Ayamama Creek goes through a series of districts starting from Başakşehir, Bağcılar, Küçükçekmece and Bahçelievler, reaching Bakırköy, one of İstanbul’s most crowded areas, before finally emptying into the Sea of Marmara. It has a length of 42 kilometers, eight-and-a-half of which are between the TEM and E-5 highways, the primary area of flooding during the September rains.
In addition to claiming lives, the September floods also caused major property damage. The Ayamama Creek overflow dealt millions of dollars in damage to companies with warehouses located near the Basın Ekspres highway in the district of Halkalı.
In a previous flood caused when the creek overflowed its banks in 1996, nearby buildings, including the Sabah daily building, were inundated with water, although the cost of the damage was less as there were fewer buildings in the area.
Among the buildings along the Basın Ekspres highway affected by the flash floods were those belonging to Vodafone, Karaca, Sabri Özel, Altur, Sağlık Su, Keskinoğlu, L.C. Waikiki, Vakıfbank, Deva Holding, İş Bankası, Pegasus, Sarar, the 212 Shopping Center, Hürriyet, Uğur Makine, Opel Ataköy, Ulubaş Motor (Proton), Honda, Bahariye, Kamer Türk Shipping and the Holiday Inn. Following the flood, Altur Tourism announced that the cost of the damage to its facilities was $10 million, Sabri Özel as 20 million euros, Süvari as $1 million and Çağatay Transportation as 1 million euros.
İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) President Murat Yalçıntaş at the time estimated the cost of damage caused to businesses by the floods as at least $80-90 million.
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