2024-07-29 22:11:39
San Carlos, in Napo, faces the imminent danger of the regressive erosion of the Coca River. The phenomenon is advancing, causing destruction and innumerable losses.
The fear and uncertainty of the inhabitants of the small town of Saint Charlesfrom the Gonzalo Díaz de Pineda parish, in the canton of El Chaco, in Napo, is noticeable at first glance. The Regressive erosion of the Coca River It has been threatening them for four years, but in 2024 it has already knocked on their door and the danger is more imminent.
Saint Charles It is the second town at risk from the erosion of the Coca River. A few kilometers downstream is San Luis, a hamlet of 40 families that is already on the edge of the abyss.
A tragic day for all the inhabitants of the area was last June 16th. The intense rains of that day caused an unusual rise of the Coca River, reaching 3,354 meters per secondeight times higher than the average of previous days.
“The river was very rough. I hadn’t seen it so high in years,” recalled Paulina Duque, a resident of the area.
According to the report of the Coca River Executive Commission of the Ecuadorian Electric Corporation (CELEC), which monitors the natural phenomenon, this flood was the second highest in the last three years.
The rains of June and July 2024 accelerate the erosion of the Coca River. Photo: Diego Pallero/ EL COMERCIO
The rains and the force of the river reactivated the regressive erosion of the Coca River and its tributaries. The natural phenomenon advanced more than a kilometer from June 16 to July 5, 2024. It went from kilometer 7.3 to 6.1, in the direction of the hydroelectric power plant’s intake works. Coca Elbow Sinclair.
An area of major landslides and tragedies
In the last three weeks, large landslides of earth, stones and vegetation have not ceased throughout the sector, especially in the left bank of the tributarywhere the town of is located Saint Charles.
On June 16 alone, several hectares of land were lost. In one of the landslides Luis Farinango, 53, and his 11-year-old son disappeared. Their bodies have not yet been recovered.
They went out to take care of your cattle who were grazing on some land near the banks of the Coca River. When they tried to move their animals, a large landslide occurred and the two people disappeared on the slope.
The regressive erosion of the Coca River accelerated after June 16, 2024, following heavy rains in the area: Photo: Courtesy of the El Chaco Fire Department
That day also collapsed a Pedestrian bridgewhich connected the San Carlos town with the farms of High Cocaon the right bank of the tributary. At 08:00 on June 16, the news of the bridge’s collapse spread throughout the town.
The neighbors remember that they came to see if it was true. destruction infrastructure and the earth was cracking and disappearing before their eyes. “We all ran away. The river was taking everything and it didn’t stop,” recalls Paulina, who has become one of the leaders of the village.
Incommunicado residents
More than 300 families from San Carlos, San Luis and other nearby towns They were cut off from the community and cannot go to tend to their orange and tomato plantations, cattle, dairy production and more. The only option is to walk for more than three hours to cross the river. Coca River for the power plant’s water intake works in the Salado sector. They must first request a safe-conduct pass.