In order to preserve the health of the inhabitants of Bucaramanga and its metropolitan area, the Ombudsman’s Office called on the authorities in general to adopt sufficient measures to reduce the high levels of mercury in the Surata River.
Therefore, the director of the body, Carlos Camargo, pointed out that, “We urgently call for preventive and corrective actions to be taken to reduce the high levels of mercury in the Surata River.which supplies drinking water to Bucaramanga and 12 municipalities of Santander”.
You may be interested in: In protest against Gustavo Petro, they would create a $30,000 wafer in Floridablanca
The official added that “on July 28, the Bucaramanga Aqueduct, AMB announced the results of the samples taken from said water source, which resulted in a significant increase in the levels of mercury in the river, because the report details that the levels of this heavy metal went from 100 micrograms to 163 micrograms per liter between January and July 2022.
Taking into account this latest report delivered by the AMB, the National Ombudsman points out that although this entity indicated that the water supplied to citizens has the required quality, Sufficient measures have not been taken to reduce the high levels of mercury in the Surata River and on the contrarythe population of the riverside areas continues to face a high risk to their health due to the increase in mercury in the water”.
Also read: Gallery: In record time, a triathlete from Santander recovered after a broken collarbone
It is worth mentioning that on July 28, when the Metropolitan Aqueduct announced the high levels of mercury in the Surata River, the entity immediately closed the collection of water that comes from this water source, to contribute to the fact that the liquid that reached this intake did so in a pure way and obviously fit for human consumption.
Thus, the National Ombudsman makes a call to the Ministries of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mines and Energy and Social Protection, environmental entities of the region, about the problems that are occurring with these high levels of mercury in the Surata River.
