Public shelters in Poland – their quantity and quality in Poland

In light of the war in Ukraine, the issue of public shelters has been increasingly discussed in Poland, not in our eastern neighbour, but here in Poland. This is, of course, related to the threat of the war spreading to neighbouring countries, including the territory of the Republic of Poland. So, what is the situation with public shelters in our country? You will read about it in today’s article!

The Supreme Audit Office report sheds new light on the issue of shelters in Poland

Earlier this year, the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) published a comprehensive report on the state of shelters in Poland. Generally speaking, the results of this audit are not optimistic. Only 4% of the population can find protection in shelters. What’s worse is that most citizens don’t even know where shelters are located in their vicinity.

NIK, as part of the audit, examined 32 municipalities across Poland, and the published report indicates that there were municipalities unable to guarantee even one such place for their residents. Additionally, almost 70% of the audited shelters did not meet various technical conditions defined by various legal regulations. Furthermore, there is a lack of funds in Poland to maintain such structures properly. For example, in 2021, the budget for this purpose was just over PLN 200,000 nationwide. This is really a drop in the ocean of needs.

Audits and reports from the previous government were, according to NIK, conducted unreliably

NIK also pointed out in its report that the results of shelter audits conducted by the National Headquarters of the State Fire Service and published by the previous government are unreliable and give a false sense of security. There are voivodeships in the country that do not have a single (!) shelter — this is the case, for example, in the Lubuskie Voivodeship. The situation is also disastrous in the Podlaskie and Lubelskie Voivodeships, where there are slightly more than 20 shelters in each of these two voivodeships (22 in Podlaskie and 24 in Lubelskie Voivodeship). In total, there are 1,903 defence shelters in the whole country. This is definitely too few for the needs of a nearly forty-million nation.

How to get to a shelter — another problem of Polish civil defence

In addition to the insufficient number of shelters and the poor technical condition of a significant portion of this infrastructure, there are many, many more problems. This includes the fact that most citizens don’t even know where the nearest shelters are located in order to go to them in case of need.

In 2022, a dedicated application was created to address this issue. Unfortunately, according to the NIK report, it is clear that it does not fulfil its role. In the event of a potential threat, the application will not be able to direct a citizen to a specific shelter with available space. It will only show all shelters in the area — without any information about the technical condition of the facility, and most importantly, the number of available spaces at any given moment. This may not only introduce additional chaos in the event of a real threat but also expose citizens to additional dangers associated with the long time spent searching for shelter.

Or is it better to rely on your own private shelter?

Many people rightly point out that in the event of a real threat, the chance of finding shelter in public shelters is relatively small. This makes more aware citizens start looking for their own private alternatives to public infrastructure. One such alternative is, of course, the construction of a private, underground shelter on one’s own garden or plot of land. It can be organised relatively cheaply, ensuring that in the event of a threat, we have a dedicated place for ourselves and our family. If you are also interested in this type of solution — check out our offer and feel free to contact us.