Association of flood-damaged home owners of Mesochora – Board of directors

-President: Niki-Eleftheria Ikonomou-Evangelidis

-Vice-president A: Panagiotis Kotronis

-Vice-president B: Christos Karagiorgos

-Secretary: Argiro Karagiorgou

-General Secretary : Marios Evangelidis

-Treasurer: Tasos Liakos

-Member: Nikos Tsiantas (Tsaras)

Establishment & History

In a historic village of Pindos – Mesochora in Trikala -, reborn from its ashes following the German invasion of 1943, a village of unique natural beauty with a number of active public services (Health center – Hospital, Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), Post Office – Savings Office (ELTA), Police Station, Nursery – Elementary School – Secondary School and Boarding School), the State presented the Mesochora Dam as a developmental project that would benefit the people and the area. In Spring 1985, a group of State representatives, with the participation of D. Papamantelou – the then Head of the Public Power Corporation, visited the village and announced the construction of a 60m damn, withholding from the residents the true magnitude of the project. Without further notice, public discussion or environmental study, the PPC soon proceeded with the construction works. At first, the community authorities of Mesochora and other near-by villages did not object, and works progressed normally.

One morning in the summer of 1987, Takis Halimourdas, the then president of the Mesochora Community Council announced from the loudspeakers the diversion of the Acheloos River to the tunnel and the construction of a dam by the PPC; he invited the residents to a general meeting at the village square at 7pm that evening. Niki-Eleftheria Oikonomou-Evangelidi requested him to take immediate action so to prevent any more valuable time being lost. When he refused, she rang the church bell herself, calling the villagers to a meeting that same moment, thus marking the start of the fight to save Mesochora and Acheloos. 

Therefore, that summer, following a general meeting, the residents sent a letter to the PPC asking for information about the actual height of the dam and the project details. From the company’s response a few months later, they were apprised for the first time of the details which were quite different to what they had in mind. The dam would be 150m high with the water level set at 755m (currently, at 785m.), submerging ⅔ of the village. It was now becoming clear that the project would be associated with the diversion of the Acheloos River to the Thessalian Plain; clarifications were also given that expropriations would take place with compensation set by the courts.

In view of the looming danger for the village, and realizing the magnitude of the natural disaster and the State’s intention to lead the village to its decline, the residents of the areas to be submerged created an association. Thus, in 1988, the Association of the flood-damaged home owners of Mesochora: “the Acheloos” was created on the initiative of Georgios Karageorgos, son of Aristotle. His was a very important initiate for the situation the area was found in at the time – and indeed for the many years that followed during which the village was held hostage to developments.  Karageorgos was president of the Association from the date of its establishment until 27.5.1990. Then, Niki-Eleftheria Oikonomou-Evangelidi became president, shaping the role and course of the Association, establishing cooperation with all ecological organizations (Ornithological Society, WWF HELLAS, Greenpeace, Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture, Chamber of Environment), as well as with the Community of Mesochora and especially with its president Mr. Panagiotis Kotronis. Also, the Association worked with the Associations of Mesochorians of Athens, Trikala and Farsala, the Ecological Movement of Volos, Trikala and Larissa, the Pan-Thessalian Stegi, the Citizens’ Movement of Agrinio-Aitoloakarnanes, as well as the solidarity groups that stand by the Association’s fight.

Actions

The Association of flood-damaged home owners of Mesochora developed intense activity, with the primary aim of having the project canceled, saving the village and Acheloos River. From its very first meetings, the produced memos and petitions, which were then submitted to the European Commission and the Greek government.

Within the framework of its activity:

• The Association organized protests, fighting to prevent both the diversion of the river from its natural flow into the small diversion tunnel in order to free the bottom and the commencement of the works on the dam. In the summer of 1989, on three occasions (6.6.89, 27.7.89, 8.8.89), following the dynamic reaction of the association, the PPC works for the diversion of the river were prevented, whilst with the intervention of the then Deputy Minister of National Economy, Mr. S. Hatzigiakis, on 9.8.1989, the diversion barrier was “out” and the river flow returned to its natural riverbed. A year later, in yet another attempt by the PPC, the residents’ protests were met by approximately 400 riot policemen, who arrived in an unorthodox manner in the village without being noticed. This time, by force, the water changed course after thousands of years and was driven into the tunnel.
• It prevented the cadastral registration of the areas to be submerged, from the initial effort of the PPC crews (August, 1990) until today. Thanks to the actions of the association, the residents repeatedly refused the compensation, thus preventing the expropriations from being concluded.
• It took the lead in marches, occupations of roads and of PPC worksites, such as the protest of June 1992, during which the PPC, considering the then president of the community, Mr.Panagiotis Kotronis, the main instigator of the occupation, demanded that his property assets are frozen and that he paid compensation of 34 million drachmas to the project for damages suffered during the two days of the occupation. In the trial that followed, the court found him not guilty, whilst a crowd of Mesochorians were demonstrating in support of him outside the court.
• It cooperated with other neighboring villages, with which they were initially united not by the demand for the annulment of the project but by the default of the PPC on the rehabilitation projects, such as the relocation of the residents with the creation of new model settlements in a safe area, which had to proceed in parallel with the construction of the dam. Their first large meeting, organized by the Association, in July 1994, with the participation of residents of Mesochora, Armataliko, Nea Pefki, as well as the settlements of Fortosio and Paleochori of Gardiki, a representative of the Ministry of National Economy, local authorities and MPs, representatives of PPC and WWF Greece, was covered for the first time by the media.
• It claimed its rightful position and voice in public discussions for the project, either in the local press or TV and Radio shows, making the issue and the Association’s stand on it known. The first major attempt was in October 1992, when, in cooperation with ecological organizations, Mesochora made the front pages of the main newspapers of Athens (Nea, Eleftherotypia, Vima, Eleftheros Typos, Avgi, Avriani), with the story shortly afterwards being picked up by the major international agencies – BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, the Spanish news agency, the German magazine Stern and the Washington Post. In November 1998, a representative of CNN visited Mesochora. This was followed by numerous media reports and documentaries, in which the Association continues to takes part.
• It participated in day conferences related to this matter, such as the one at Panteion University, organized by the Hellenic Ornithological Society, in which specialized university professors analyzed the futility and unprofitability of the Acheloos River diversion project. Participants included representatives of the “Committee of Agrinio Citizens for the Protection of the Environment”, with whom the Association came into contact for the first time and coordinated their action plans from then onwards. This was followed by day conferences organized by the Municipality of Messolonghi in Messolonghi, by the Citizens’ Movement in the hall of Journalists’ Union in Athens (ESHEA) and many others in Larissa, Trikala, Athens, Mesochora, always with the participation of the Association. In addition, the Association’s presence in the Informal Special Environmental Court – which was set up on the initiative of environmental organizations and especially Greenpeace – for the Acheloos diversion case, on 6.12.1996, in Athens, is also important.
• It won all appeals before the Supreme Court, some of which it brought with ecological organizations; it also won the one before the European Court of Justice, which issued its decision in November 2012. The Association also fought in the courtrooms, with its legal advisers, Mr. Vasilios Dorovini, Mr. Marios Haidarlis and, at other times, with Mr. Georgios Christoforidis. The first annulment of the project by the Council of State was issued on 25.9.1994. Since then, six more decisions followed: in 2000, 2005 (two decisions), 2009, 2016 and 2020.
• It sought and met with various state authorities, Prime Ministers, Environment Ministers, EU Commissioners, MEPs, Members of Parliament, Prefects, Regional Governors, Mayors, Senior Judicial Officers, University Professors, scientists, always with the aim of communicating its opposition to the project and promoting the survival of Mesochora and Acheloos, as well as to make known the irreversible impact of a short life span project on the natural environment.

The Association of flood-damaged home owners of Mesochora is the first movement to save Mesochora and Acheloos river. It has been acting against the project over the last 35 years.