In the Pimampiro canton, more and more families are affected by cracks and subsidence that began to appear in the land. The COE declared an emergency in the area.
Drafting IMBABURA
Houses, productive land and surrounding roads they are destroyed little by little. Until November 23, 2021, 12 families had to evacuate their homes to be transferred to a shelter, but at least a score of them would be in imminent danger.
“We live from agriculture, where we have invested all the work of our life. And we practically see him that it is ending without any solution, without any hope”, Mentioned Ángel Benítez, one of the inhabitants of the sector known as San José de Aloburo, In the canton Pimampiro, province of Imbabura.
Napo Sevilla, another of the neighbors, explained that a lot of people are panicking, well in this area, from two months ago Cracks and subsidence began to appear on the main road, which connects with the urban center of Pimampiro and Mariano Acosta. Nevertheless, in the first days of November the situation worsened.
“It has been constantly monitored since the cracks appeared. Studies were done, but at that time they did not have the dimension they have today, which highlights all the potential danger it represents for those who were living in the sector, ”said the mayor, Armando Chávez.
In emergency
On November 20, 2021, after knowing and analyzing the reports presented by the different technical tables and technicians of the National Risk Management Service, the cantonal Operations Committee (COE) resolved declare emergency the affected area.
“This will allow more prompt attention to the families who had to evacuate their homes, maintain and open alternative routes, at the same time manage before provincial and national organizations support in the face of this difficult situation that the canton is going through, since the displacement of earth continues and the cracks every day are more and of greater diameter ”, they explained from the municipality.
12 evacuated, but increasing
According to the latest report issued by the COE of Pimampiro, near 30 hectares are affected, there are houses of 12 families, lands with active crops of fruits and vegetables, roads that lead to other communities and irrigation systems that involve a ditch.
“The acequia could become a threat and a negative contribution to what we are experiencing. There are 12 families evacuated so far, but there are six other families that would be in danger and they would have to leave their homes, ”Chávez said.
Of the 12 families evacuated, eight are in the municipal shelter, established in the old school of the El Tejar community, where around 27 persons they remain without knowing when they will be able to stop living that way and resume their daily lives.
While another family was relocated to a municipally owned house and three are in houses of relatives and friends.
“Professionals in psychology and social work from the municipality provide permanent support to affected families. In addition, the Ministry of Public Health and the local Fire Department have joined. Next week the National Risk Management Service will arrive with food and toilet kits ”, they added from the COE.
50 centímetros diarios, en promedio, se está hundiendo la tierra en el sector de San José de Aloburo, en Pimampiro, según las autoridades locales.
Studies will determine the causes and magnitudes
In the beginning, only the option of being a geologic fault the one that is producing the cracks in the ground and the subsidence of the ground; however, there is also the possibility that water filtration be one of the factors.
“Technicians from the National Risk Management Service, which includes a geologist, carried out a study of the entire affected area, in order to determine possible origins and scope that the cracks and earth displacement could have. In addition, the municipality has requested the support of professionals from the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and universities ”, they mentioned from the Pimampiro COE.
They added that the reports issued by the specialists will make it possible to determine the origins and cause of this displacement of earth and cracking, to take the most appropriate actions.
As initial measures, vehicular and pedestrian traffic has been restricted, the drinking water lines have been interrupted, and the use of irrigation water in the sector has also been limited.
