The Public Ministry of São Paulo (MP-SP) recommended the interruption of construction work on a tunnel, part of the Road Complex project on Rua Sena Madureira, one of the main roads in the southern zone of the capital. The initiative has mobilized environmentalists, residents and other sectors of civil society against the works, which involve the removal of two low-income communities living in the area and the destruction of a green corridor between the Ibirapuera and Aclimação parks.
The recommendation to stop the works was issued this Thursday (7) by the capital’s promoters Moacir Tonani Júnior, from Housing and Urbanism, and Carlos Henrique Prestes Camargo, from the Environment. For the Public Ministry, new technical studies are needed to scale the intervention, in the “socio-environmental and urban planning” fields. Sena Madureira Street has heavy traffic, connecting the Vila Mariana region to Ibirapuera Park and other streets that lead to Marginal Pinheiros.
In the order obtained by Brazil Agencythe MP also justifies its position in relation to the work citing the high value that would be taken from public coffers to materialize it, the “indiscriminate removal of trees and the deforestation of permanent preservation areas, affecting the Emboaçu Stream, an important spring vital for the region” and the risk it poses to birds that inhabit the treetops – and, in the case of the destruction of nests and death of specimens, another environmental crime is configured.
According to the capital’s Mobility and Traffic Secretariat, the work “respects all requirements relating to environmental issues”. The agency says it obtained authorization from the Municipal Secretariat for Green and Environment to uproot 172 trees in the area, “with the remaining 362 trees existing on the site being preserved.”
“The compensation will be carried out with the planting of 266 tree seedlings within the perimeter of the work and only with native species. The replanting must be carried out until the end of the works. The Municipal Secretariat for Green and Environment reinforces that, in an inspection carried out on 28 June 2024, there was no presence of a spring or water hole within the area of intervention of the work. A rainwater drainage channel was found at the bottom of the valley.”
Regarding the Public Ministry’s recommendation, the City Hall did not take a position, but has reiterated in other notes that it has the licenses for the work and that approximately 800,000 people will benefit from the construction of the tunnel.
THE Brazil Agency He contacted the Infrastructure and Works and Housing departments, but had no response by the time this article was written.
Manifestations
Since construction began in October, the construction of the complex has mobilized residents and activists. The protesters denounce the socio-environmental impacts of the work, such as the promotion of the use of motorized vehicles, to the detriment of public transport and bicycles, the removal of two low-income communities that live in the area and the destruction of a green corridor between Ibirapuera and of Aclimação.
This Thursday (7), participants in the events called for a “constant vigil” and a young woman was injured by guards from the Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM). Cyclist activist Renata Falzoni, recently elected councilor (PSB) was even carried away by local municipal guards.
Asked about the conduct of GCM agents during the demonstrations, the Urban Security Secretariat said, in a statement, that the corporation followed yesterday’s demonstration and that the teams “instructed the protesters to move away from the place where the authorized cutting of trees was taking place.” by the city hall.” “There was resistance and in the morning a woman was sent by the GCM to the Police District, for contempt. The demonstration was controlled and the agents remained at the scene”, he added in the message.
The collective “Salvem a Sena Madureira” shares information about the progress of the work since last month on social media, showing the impact of the construction of the tunnel on the site.
Since the beginning of the preparation of the land for the construction of the tunnel, tractors and city workers have been uprooting old healthy trees. The collective also highlights the violence against more than 200 low-income families living in the area, from the communities of Souza Ramos and Luiz Alves, who may be forced to leave their homes if the works continue. Regarding these families, the MP highlighted that “it is not known for sure where they will go” nor whether they will be relocated.
Lack of public consultation
A member of the Metropolitan Urban Mobility Collective (Commu), researcher Lucian de Paula has been following the case since 2022, when he pointed out irregularities in the work presented by the city hall.
“The city hall had not invited any member of the community. Now that the works had started, people were desperate, because they were never informed of anything. On October 1st, they scheduled a meeting at the sub-city hall, where the project would be presented. It had never was presented to no one and, when people got there, there were so many people that they claimed they couldn’t fit in the auditorium. They canceled and decided to schedule it for another day”, says the cycling activist, specialized in the area of mobility.
“This was the first day of protest. Since then, there has not been a meeting for people to understand what the tunnel would be, what it would do and exactly the places that will be removed. We know, looking at the projects, that the entire community ends up being removed. But this was something that we discovered on our own, the city hall did not show this”, Paula’s amendment.
According to the urban planner, this week, for the first time, the Municipal Housing Department met with the residents of the two communities. At the time, the ministry stated that it was informed about the work recently and that it intended to register the families to calculate and guarantee them compensation.
“But, either people receive compensation, and then the city council considers the problem solved, or people receive rental assistance to wait in line to get housing. The problem is: for people to live, there is a line and, for the tunnel, there is no need to wait at all. There are no housing units where they can go. In any case, these people would not be able to continue living in Vila Mariana”, observes Lucian de Paula. For him, the city hall is implementing a hygienic policy of expelling these people from the place.
Resident of the Souza Ramos Community, Eduardo Canejo says he is terrified by the situation he finds himself in. “Two months ago, the city hall sent a company they hired to survey some residents for regularization. It wasn’t for removal, it was for regularization. And, parallel to that, they continued with the construction project”, he says.
For the architect, although public authorities such as parliamentarians and the MP are trying to help, the scope of the actions they take does not immediately and definitively ensure the permanence and safety of families. “There was a recommendation to stop the work, but it is a recommendation, it is not effective. This is scary, because the machines continue to work”, he says, commenting that having friends and family to turn to for a temporary roof does not alleviate his despair. , because “the problem is not where to sleep, but where to wake up”.
Families
According to the president of the Vila Mariana residents’ association, Eliana Barcelos, at least three houses have already been destroyed by the floods that hit the communities in recent days, after the city uprooted several trees in the green corridor defended by the local population, which connects the Ibirapuera parks. and Acclimatization.
The possibility of flooding was also mentioned by the MP as a concern and a situation that the city hall could avoid. “We are not at any moment, we are facing climate change,” he states.
On October 17th, the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo (Alesp) held a meeting with entities and residents, in which the agenda was the Sena Madureira Road Complex. Parliamentarians Paulo Fiorilo and Donato, both from PT, and Carlos Giannazi and Mônica Seixas from Movimento Pretas, from PSOL, were present. At the time, Donato pointed out the inconsistency of the work in relation to the municipality’s Master Plan.
According to the city hall, the project consists of two tunnels, totaling 1,651 meters in length. The objective of the tunnel is to connect Avenida Ricardo Jafet to the João Saad and Túnel Jânio Quadros road complexes, enabling travel between the regions of Vila Mariana, Ipiranga, Itaim Bibi and Morumbi. The work is expected to be completed by September 2025.
*With information from the Alesp news agency.
