San Carlos, another town at risk due to the advance of the regressive erosion of the Coca River – 2024-07-29 22:11:39

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.

Despite the risk they run, the 26 families living in San Carlos say that will remain in placeThey claim they have no other place to go“We have everything here. There are families who have their little houses, their businesses, their jobs, even if it is a small investment, but it is their investment,” says Paulina.

She has lived there for 16 years. Together with her husband, she set up a restaurant next to the E45 highway, which connects the provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos. Before 2020, this place was very profitable, says Paulina. “There was a lot of tourism. They came to see the waterfalls, do extreme sports, on weekends we had at least 100 diners,” she says.

Erosion and pandemic

But the Covid-19 pandemic and the erosion of the Coca River changed everything. Currently, they only serve workers from the different companies that provide maintenance to the oil, road and electrical infrastructure in the area.

Most of the residents of San Carlos work in some way for these companies. Many are directly employed by the companies and others provide services such as food or laundry to the workers. Employment is also what keeps them in the area, despite the danger it represents.

The erosion of the Coca River has been recorded since February 2020, after the disappearance of the San Rafael waterfall, on the provincial border of Napo and Sucumbiosabout 13 kilometers from San Carlos. “When the natural phenomenon began, we never thought that the sinkhole would reach our town,” says Paulina.

The erosion of the Coca River is not the only threat that San Carlos faces. This town is also located at the foot of the Exploderone of the most active volcanoes in Ecuador. But the roars and tremors produced by the colossus do not scare them, their constant fear is the advance of the erosion of the Coca RiverPaulina concludes. The authorities declared the entire area at riskthis makes it impossible for them to make investments, since everything can go into the water. The inhabitants ask to be relocated, they do not want to be given houses, they only ask for a piece of land to settle on, they say. However, the local authorities and the Government has not made a decision on a possible relocation of the affected residents.

By: EL COMERCIO