“The burning and changes of watercourses in the Delta must be punished by Justice” (Cabandié)
The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Juan Cabandié, filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in Victoria, Entre Ríos, for the construction of embankments in the Paraná Delta area, within the framework of the investigations of intentional burning, and stressed that “These behaviors must be penalized to prevent them from being repeated.”
“I filed a new complaint with the Victoria Prosecutor’s Office, Entre Ríos, to investigate those responsible for the illegal soil movements that occur in the Lechiguanas Islands, in the Paraná Delta,” the minister announced this afternoon through his official Twitter account.
The filing was made with the Victorian Federal District Attorney’s Office and was accompanied by a video recorded by the technical team of the National Fire Management Service (SNMF)during an overflight in the area on October 13, where a backhoe is observed removing earth to make an artificial canal.
We use as evidence the video recorded by our technical team from the National Fire Management Service on October 13, where machines are observed moving earth for the construction of embankments. pic.twitter.com/zxGj3X6vvH
– Juan Cabandié (@juancabandie) October 26, 2022
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the objective of the complaint is to investigate those responsible and authors of the illegal soil movements that have been taking place in the department of Gualeguay and surrounding towns, in the province of Entre Ríos, conduct sanctioned by Article 182 of the Penal Code, such as Provincial Decree 4977/09.
The environmental portfolio specified that, in addition, this activity is prohibited by Provincial Law No. 9,172whose purpose is to regulate the use and exploitation of the natural resource constituted by groundwater and surface water, for productive economic purposes throughout the territory of Entre Ríos.
From the Entre Ríos government they reported that At the end of September, a complaint was filed with the Provincial Police and the Federal Court of Victoria was informed that machinery was carrying out embankments on the Lechiguanas Islands.an activity that is prohibited precisely by a precautionary measure of July 1, 2020 and by national and provincial regulations.
“The burning and changes of the watercourses in the Delta must be punished by the Justice. We need and insist that these behaviors must be penalized to prevent their recurrence” Juan Cabandié
Also, those who were in the place did not have any presentation for the Environmental Impact Assessment before the provincial body, so “immediately the Federal Court of Victoria was notified and the Police of Entre Ríos and the Argentine Naval Prefecture intervened,” sources from the provincial Environment Secretariat told Télam.
At that time, the government of Gustavo Bordet analyzed implementing greater controls on access to the islands, with the help of the Armed and Security Forces: “It is a drastic decision, but it is necessary to evaluate it,” argued the Minister of Government, Rosario Romero. , and appealed to the “citizen attitude” to avoid new fires.
After the presentation of the new criminal complaint for the construction of embankments in the Paraná Delta area, Cabandié warned that “This causes serious damage to the environment, cutting off natural water flows and turning a wetland into potentially productive or real estate land.”
The environmental portfolio has been demanding that the Justice take action against the owners of the fields where this practice of burning grasslands that affects the wetland is carried out.
And he added: “The burning and changes of the watercourses in the Delta must be punished by the Justice. We need and insist that these behaviors must be penalized to prevent their recurrence.”
From the group of environmentalists “El Paraná is NOT touched” they assured that the machines and their activity in the wetlands and islands are “the smoke that cannot be seen or felt” that “destroys the interior of the wetland” with activities “without permits and without the slightest respect for nature”.
“This is worse than the fire, unfortunately you can’t see or bother the city but it is destroying the wetlands”they commented in a statement and summoned the Justice to “have the machines removed (because) they have the tools.”
The smoke has even reached the city of Buenos Aires and the suburbs of Buenos Aires on several occasions.
The National Ministry of the Environment has been filing criminal complaints before the Court of Victoria for the repeated burnings in fields in the area of the Paraná Delta islands, which unleash forest fires that affect the wetland and produce air pollution in several surrounding regions. mainly the city of Rosario.
The smoke has even reached the city of Buenos Aires and the suburbs of Buenos Aires on several occasions.
According to data released by the Environmental Observatory of the National University of Rosario (UNR) In the last three years, when successive fires have been registered, more than 800 thousand hectares of the Paraná Delta have been destroyed.
The environmental portfolio has been demanding that the Justice take action against the owners of the fields where this practice of burning grasslands that affects the wetland is carried out.
“The realization of new water courses and deliberate burning are productive practices that affect the ecosystem of the Paraná Delta and the creation of embankments in wetlands is associated with the diversion of the natural flow of water and to the extension of the territory, which constitutes a modification of the use of the land for economic activities such as livestock, agriculture and real estate projects”, the Ministry insisted on Wednesday in the press release.
