Property owners in Budapest's Romai-part along the Danube are taking the city goverment to court claiming that they failed in their obligations to protect the district.
A trial starts today pitting owners of property on Budapest's Római-part, the area along the Danube in District III, against the Budapest city government over the record flood that damaged buildings in the area in April 2006.
The plaintiffs in the unusual case claim that the city failed in its obligations to protect the area from the flood, and in doing so violated the rights of local residents. Gábor Egri, assistant chairman of the Association for Római-part (Egyesület a Római-partért), said that the area cannot be considered wetlands, as it has been inhabited since 1935, and after 1945, several state companies also built vacation resorts there.
The Danube is currently flooding the lower embankments in both Buda and Pest, with nearby roads expected to remain closed until the weekend. The waters peaked at around 700 cm in Budapest Tuesday evening, compared to a record of 861 cm in April of last year.
