At 6:20 a.m. last Tuesday, an avalanche of 4,000 cubic meters fell on the neighborhood The Esnedafrom twoquebradaslater it hit the Otún river and continued along until the streets 24 and 25 of the avenue of the River, in Pereiraleaving 17 dead and a dozen houses affected.
The report of the local authorities was that the tragedy had been caused because in the upper part of the mountain there was a ditch and an excessive increase in the rains, but the geologists who have studied these mountains for years confronted the affirmations and assured that this cannot be seen as a conjunctural fact.
The Colombian Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geophysicists (ACGGP) emphasized that “Disasters are not natural”and that Colombia needs a geologist per municipality so that floods and mass movements do not generate these losses of life.
Clemencia Gómez, president of the Board of Directors of the ACGGP, said that particularly in this emergency situations were combined by action or omission, both caused by man.
A part of the mountain fell into the Otún river and this caused a ‘bomb’ that destroyed the houses.
The problem is not the geology, but the vulnerability of locating ourselves on land like this. The Pereira catastrophe is not isolated. The same thing happened in Manizales and in Mocoa
“The problem is not the geology, but the vulnerability of locating ourselves on land like this. The Pereira catastrophe is not isolated. The same thing happened in Manizales and Mocoa. For the sensitive professionals of the land, it is very sad to know about the problems in the area, to be able to contribute to their solution and that these tragedies continue to occur, “said Gómez.
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The president added that public policies are lacking, since knowledge about the land they stay on top of officials’ desks and do not reach the communities. “We have not managed to permeate public policies. We make maps and studies that do not transcend, ”he assured.
Geologists had already warned that a tragedy like this was going to occur in this week’s disaster area in Pereira and Dosquebradas, Risaralda, because in 1926 and 1976 the slopes of that area of the metropolitan area gave way. It also happened recently, in 2020, only the tragedy was not in a neighborhood, but on the La Romelia – El pollo variant and left four fatalities.
This was the area where the last victim (17) of the landslide in Pereira was rescued.
Photo:Municipality of Dosquebradas
We cannot predict which one will come off. But there are several susceptible, Topaz, Low Dew, for example. There are many, because they were made at the same time as the growth of cities
According to Juan Mauricio Castaño, professor at the Technological University of Pereira (UTP), and member of the Risaralda Hydroclimatological Network and the Early Warning System, the vulnerability of those who live there, added to the constant rains, are the perfect scenario for a tragedy of these magnitudes to be repeated, as has already been repeated.
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“The areas of high slopes, which in our mountain territory can be counted by hundreds, easily present this combination that would eventually end up in a landslide, but we cannot predict which of them is going to break off. What is known is that if there are intense rains, the probability of their occurrence increases,” explained Castaño.
“We cannot predict which one is going to come off. But there are several susceptible, Topaz, Low Dew, to name a few. There are many, because they were made at the same time as the growth of the cities”, said Castaño.
Three similar tragedies have occurred in this sector of the Otún River with intervals of between 45 and 50 years. These catastrophes have claimed more than 100 lives.
That probability was clearly identified after the 1976 avalanche, which left 80 dead. At that time 1,800 families were relocated, but later others arrived. This was explained by Ernesto Zuluaga, director of the Carder at that time, which was founded to avoid these disasters.
“After that tragedy, the Risaralda Regional Autonomous Corporation (Carder) was born. His main function was to solve the critical problems of the river, that was his task. Between the 1980s and the 1990s, 150 million dollars were obtained to relocate 1,800 families, stabilize slopes and others, several neighborhoods were created as a result. But it didn’t last,” Zuluaga said.
Over the years, Zuluaga maintains, Carder took on more responsibilities and what happened to the river became one of many issues. “I find it regrettable that the controls disappeared. People forget the tragedies and take the risks, they live there thinking that it will not happen again, but it is the responsibility of the authorities to exercise control to protect them”, she concludes.
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relocation
Although it is known that the immediate solution is to relocate families at risk, there is still no long-term policy.
Carder’s current director, Julio Gómez, said that illegal constructions complicate the situationbecause some relocate and others return.
Apparently, the tragedy was caused by a saturation of the land after more than 12 hours of rain.
This is a summation of errors and a historical accumulation of omissions from various parts
“It is a difficult issue because everyone reacts to an eviction. This is a sum of errors and a historical accumulation of omissions from various parts,” Gómez pointed out, adding that in the area there are still some 2,000 families to relocate, almost the same number that were transferred to other neighborhoods in 1986, after the tragedy of 1976. .
The issue is that the threat is in the whole department and the first rainy season has not yet started. In the same risk situation as the more than 100 families affected by the recent disaster are another 55,000 throughout Risaralda which, according to the director of Carder, are located along the Consotá river, the Otún river, the Mina Rica creek, the San Jorge and on the Cauca River.
LAURA USMA CARDONA
For the time
PEREIRA
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