BOLZANO. Insistent rains from March to May, then the heat did the rest, reinvigorating nature like never before. And since it is no longer allowed to use chemical herbicides based on glyphosate, the result is there for all to see: a city invaded by weeds, or rather, by shrubs, since in some cases they even exceed two meters in height.
To solve the problem, a private company was called urgently in July. Seventeen of them are working, ten hours a day. And they will have to work for months… Could we have started earlier?
The Environment Councillor Chiara Rabini he replies: «We started as soon as possible. I thank the company in charge, which is proceeding throughout the city, and I remind you that Bolzano is a glyphosate-free city».
Public but also private
The situation, however, has clearly gotten out of hand; even private individuals, of course. For those who did not take action in time or did so without removing the weeds by uprooting the roots, it is painful. Because everything grows back at the speed of light. Even the workers of the municipal gardening department shake their heads. Once upon a time you sprayed the weed killer, it penetrated from the leaves to the roots and the plant died. Organic products have decidedly lesser effects. And so now you can only go by hand.
A huge job, as anyone who owns a garden knows. It takes more time, more staff, it costs a lot more. And above all it’s not enough. A desolate picture. Weeds have invaded everything. Just take a stroll in Gries, to see for yourself. Bus stop on Via Vittorio Veneto with weeds up to the waist of those waiting for the Sasa. In Piazza Gries the entrance to the convent looks like a dry meadow, while in many points of the very extensive perimeter of Muri Gries the weeds cover the lower part of the old wall. Ditto on the opposite side of Vicolo Wenter, on the perimeter wall of the Stifter schools. In Via Egger Lienz a parking space is submerged and no longer usable. On the external wall of Palazzo Ducale, a two-meter-high shrub.
A passerby jokes: at Christmas we decorate it with lights. But it’s like that all over the city. The weeds have wrapped themselves up in everything: sidewalks, waste bins, street lamps, billboards, ecological islands, traffic lights, traffic islands, protective arches for pedestrians along the streets, taxi stands, bus stops.
How it worked in the past
Until last year, the maintenance service, so to speak, of the city decorum was managed in-house by Seab, which had subcontracted it, but, as Renato Spazzini of the Environmental Protection office of the Municipality points out, the outcome was not considered good enough. «This year, as soon as we received the funding, we turned to the private sector.
We started with the priority areas, based on the citizens’ reports, which have already been finished. Now the growth of greenery will slow down and stop, but we are working manually…»
A huge job
The person in charge of the work in Bolzano on behalf of the Activa group of Trento, Alessandro Forgione, confirmed yesterday: «Today in Bolzano there are seventeen of us, we work ten hours a day, but it is very difficult. We are doing everything we can to fix things. But it is like this everywhere, we are working throughout the region. Unfortunately, with so many rain events and few windows of good weather, there was no time before. They called us in July, it was urgent they said. We made ourselves available to meet them, but it takes time, in this period of the year there is not much machinery available. Now we will start with the cycle paths, with Via Roma, Piazza Tribunale, Piazza Walther and then the rest of the city».
It will take months, the Municipality will spend at least 40 thousand euros. Bipartisan responsibility «The delay by the municipal administration in the work of weeding in the various neighborhoods of the city is embarrassing», comments Gianni Rossato (Civica) from Gries. Who however is keen to underline: «It is however important to remember that the citizen must also provide for maintaining public decorum and hygiene. That each owner or temporary managers of the property take charge and are responsible for the action of removing weeds or foliage of bushes or shrubs that cause problems along the walls of buildings and artifacts of their relevance, doing everything with care and with the primary purpose of collaborating for the safety of all and the best civil coexistence».
2024-08-31 05:38:36