Citizens' initiative groundwater Heinsberg: Help with damp cellars!

Citizens' initiative groundwater Heinsberg: Help with damp cellars!

A new citizens' initiative has been founded in Heinsberg, which deals with the serious groundwater problems of the region. Under the chairmanship of Hans-Joachim Kalok, an experienced mining technician and regional spokesman for the mining victims, around 40 interested parties in the Schafhausen multi-purpose hall have come together to choose a board who is now committed to the challenges of the damp basement and the rising groundwater. Kalok receives Serap Mehder as secretary and Eileen L’Habient-Heck as treasurer.

The newly elected board is made up of competent members, including Thorsten Marx as deputy chairman and Franz Willi Theißen as deputy secretary. While some professionally experienced people such as Hans-Josef Heuter and Dr. Peter Kolen could not work in management positions, they still support the initiative to provide their expertise and support.

background and goals of the initiative

A central concern of the citizens' initiative is the establishment of a round table, where the groundwater problem in the affected areas of Eschweiler, Grebben, Oberbruch and Schafhausen is to be discussed. The initiative emerged from the need to find solutions, since the rising groundwater levels have led to numerous problems in the past 20 years, such as moist basements in around 1,500 households. The reason for this is partially attributed to the reduced pump performance in the Oberbruch industrial park after the company has set its activities.

The focus of the effort is the creation of a damage key register, which puts detailed information about the affected households. Kalok plans to make this topic better known about social media and its own website in order to achieve as many affected citizens. In addition, Heuten has proposed to develop a questionnaire in which those affected can document their specific problems. This information would be important for the creation of a usable affiliated key key.

In order to promote dialogue with the city of Heinsberg and other relevant institutions, the citizens' initiative would like to apply to the mayor. The aim is to bring representatives of the citizens' initiative, the city and other active colleagues such as Veolia or the Erftverband to the round table. However, it remains unclear whether a legal successor for glossy material exists, which must also be clarified. This shows that many questions are still open and the initiative has to overcome some hurdles to be effective.

It is important to emphasize that membership in the "Citizens' Initiative Grundwasser Heinsberg" is not only reserved for the citizens affected by the groundwater problem. Anyone interested can become part of this initiative to work together on solutions. The establishment of this citizens' initiative is a significant step in the collective attempt by the residents to understand and react to the natural conditions in their region. Further information and developments can be found at www.aachener-zeitung.de can be read.