Residents of what is considered “zone 0” of the DANA on October 29, in which 222 people died, united to demand the execution of the Poyo ravine diversion project, a work that would have minimized, according to experts, damage caused by flooding.
Around 300 people joined the neighborhood group Tots à Veuwhose objectives are, on the one hand, to create the necessary infrastructure to prevent a disaster like the one that devastated the province of Valencia from happening again and, on the other hand, to activate an automatic protocol in the event of emergency.
“We came together because we need this not to happen again,” defends the group’s spokesperson, Fernando Catalanwho is a neighbor of Picanyaone of the municipalities of L’Horta Sud most affected by the overflow of the Poyo ravine, through which almost 2,000 cubic meters per second.
Five weeks after the tragedy, the streets of this city are still stained with mud, some garages are still muddy and cars remain abandoned in certain neighborhoods. “It’s always chaos”Catalán explains to EL ESPAÑOL.
The residents’ spokesperson takes the opportunity to call on the rest of the citizens of the municipalities concerned to join the platform and “unite their voices” to be heard.
The group’s next step, as explained, will be to contact the College of Canal and Port Engineers find out the opinions of experts regarding projects to secure the ravine. Then, if they have enough support, they consider introducing a popular legislative initiative.
Detour of the ravines
Neighbors are urging public authorities to “urgently” build water infrastructure. “These are the types of jobs that we don’t seem to like doing because they’re long-term. Someone starts today and someone else will finish it. It will take years, but we have to start,” he said.
In this sense, he compared this action with the Plan Sur, which, according to him, prevented the floods of last October from affecting the city of Valencia.
The need to adapt the Poyo and Saleta canals (in Aldaia) is a reality detected, at least since 1994. During this period, nine initiatives were launched to respond to this work, but due to various legal, bureaucratic or environmental issues, they all ended up in a drawer.
The Poyo ravine between Picanya and Paiporta
The action in the Poyo proposes the construction of a new canal (greenway) that will connect the ravine to the new canal of the Turia river, a work whose importance has been recognized by the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ).
This project had a positive cost-benefit ratio and an environmental impact statement, but it was not executed because it was against regional regulations.
More precisely, with the Gardens Act approved in 2018 by the government of PSPV and compromise, the Valencian government is working on the reform of which
Articles 24 and 41 will be amended so that the legislation is more flexible and the reports of the Huerta Council in matters of urban planning, until now obligatory and binding, are not necessary.
Currently, their reports on the improvements to be made in the Poyo and Saleta ravines are unfavorable, although the technicians recognized the urgency of avoiding flooding.
Looking forward
On the other hand, Catalán excludes recourse to justice to claim responsibility for this tragedy. I assure you that the objective of your group is not to look to the past, but to the future, to ensure that the necessary measures are adopted to prevent the ravine from overflowing.
In addition, they advocate improving protocols, prioritize technical aspectsand to carry out citizen awareness campaigns, so that everyone knows how to act in the face of flooding.
The neighborhood group launched a page the canvas so that interested people can register as supporters or victims.
In this regard, Catalán defends the independence of the association, which does not support any particular party. “After waking up in shock after the floods and seeing that we were alone with the water and mud, we realized that those of us who were together were the neighbors.”
“There must be many of us so that we are one voice and, ultimately, so that it is a message that we all agree on,” he concludes.
