In 2017, there were at least 15,240 households in the first district of Petrópolis in areas of high and very high risk for landslides. This was precisely the region most impacted by the rains on Tuesday (15) in the municipality, which have already left more than 100 dead.
The information is contained in the Municipal Risk Reduction Plan (PMRR) prepared in 2017 and sent to the city hall that same year. The document also listed that 18% of the territory of Petrópolis was, at that time, in a critical area, covering about 10% of the total urbanized area of all districts.
In total, there were 27,704 houses in high and very high risk regions, in locations largely within permanent preservation areas (APP’s), as published by the UOL portal.
In that period, 102 high and very high risk areas in the first district (Petrópolis) were identified by the plan, made by the company Theopratique Obras e Serviços de Engenharia e Arquitetura; 39 in the second (Cascatinha); 35 in the third (Itaipava); 32 in the fourth (Pedro do Rio); and 26 in the fifth (Possession). The study also pointed out that 7,177 families needed to be resettled, which corresponds to 25.9% of those who lived in risky areas.
With the study in hand, the city government even published the PMRR on its official channels, pointing to the need for risk containment measures, such as “cleaning rivers and drainage channels, drainage works, containment works, reforestation of areas degraded areas, dismantling or fixing stone blocks (or even the implementation of dynamic barriers) and resettlement of people who live in high and very high risk areas, with consequent demolition of houses and environmental recovery of the space”.
THE CNN tried to contact the Petrópolis city hall to find out what was done in relation to the measures listed as fundamental to reduce the risks of disasters due to natural causes, but which could be avoided as a result of previous human action. However, so far, there has been no response.
The document enumerated some measures that needed to be taken to mitigate the risks of disasters in the municipality. Such as “creating strategies to inform and sensitize families who occupy High and Very High Risk areas; incorporation of the PMRR into the Municipal Master Plan and freezing of renovations, expansions and new constructions in all Risk areas defined in the PMRR for all districts”, among others.
However, as told to CNN geotechnical engineer Luís Carlos de Oliveira, one of those responsible for the PMRR, what was observed over these five years was the opposite in relation to the control of housing density in these areas of imminent danger.
“All the reflections made after the study point towards structural issues of urbanization, urban control and housing solutions – and not just structural works. In the entire region where the catastrophe occurred on Tuesday, there was a densification in these places, with an increase and intensification of occupation in recent years”, highlighted the specialist.
He says that just carrying out structural works and not sticking to urbanization would be like “drying ice”. “There are preventive drainage works, barriers, which could mitigate the impacts of this type of accident, which could reduce damage and material losses and human lives in tragedies like these, but it is impossible to eliminate the risks if we don’t solve or if we don’t worry with the question of housing and housing control”.
The engineer draws attention to the need for joint work between the municipality, state and Union to put into practice the necessary actions to face such disasters.
“These solutions involve unleashing municipal, state and federal resources. That’s why things don’t find a solution. And there is still the discontinuity of some housing programs, such as Minha Casa Minha Vida, for example, for the relocation of the population in these risk areas,” he said.
“The city government has played its role, as far as possible, of creating projects and trying to raise funds, but it is difficult. We need a continuing three-power policy, not just in these moments of tragedy and commotion,” she concluded.
This geotechnical study sent to the city hall is one of several that the municipality of Petrópolis has. According to Ingrid Ferreira, PhD in geosciences and consultant in Disaster Risk Management, the mountain town is one of those with the greatest technical knowledge regarding geological risks.
Despite this, Ferreira regrets that all this knowledge and materials produced are not generating practical effectiveness in combating and preventing geological problems.
“Unfortunately, what these disasters in Petrópolis show is that there is still a lack of structure and also an absence of disaster risk management, which generates distrust in solving the problem. It is necessary to adopt measures to reduce the risk of new tragedies, and this must involve the adoption of joint public policies”, he pointed out.
The doctor in geosciences, as she had done at the time of the tragedy in Capitólio (MG), once again reinforced the need for the federal government and states and municipalities to reinforce their technical staff with geologists and geotechnicians.
“Petrópolis is a city that has a good civil defense structure and a technical staff that knows how to manage this type of problem, but even so, there is a need for the authorities to invest more in human and logistical resources to manage this type of disaster,” he said.
“We need qualified and trained professionals in the city halls of Brazilian cities. Without this, the demand is too great to manage the risks that certain cities, such as Petrópolis, have. Brazil currently has a huge lack of teams of geologists and geotechnicians”, concluded Ferreira.
The tragedy in Petrópolis began last Tuesday night after, in just four hours, it rained more than the entire historical average observed for the month. According to the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts for Natural Disasters (Cemaden), the rain in the city was the heaviest recorded in the city’s history.
Source: CNN Brasil
