The Granada, provincial branch of the Ecologistas en Acción have sent in a report (denuncia) to the Environment and Public Works Department of the Junta de Andalucía over what they qualify as a ‘tremendous amount of illegal earth shifting’ that could well adversely effect the barranco de la Vizcarra, up above Calahonda. (Karst area).
It was, readers may recall, storm waters from this barranco (gully) that caused the flooding in the village several months ago.
According to the ecologists, hilltops have been flattened and three barrancos have been blocked. Apparently adjacent private and public (forest) land has also been ‘invaded’ by the machinery, in what appears to be preparation for the placing of plastic greenhouses. Reportedly, 15m high cuttings have been excavated.
The results could be catastrophic, should heavy rainfall mix with the tonnes of loose earth, the ecologists point out, with the recent flooding fresh in everybody’s memory.
The association has been damning in its criticism, saying that this is only possible in a country where ‘only idiots obey the law and where the wise boys parade their illegal doings with apparent impunity.'
The provincial Plan de Ordenación del Territorio del Litoral de Granada lists this area as ‘outstanding landscape,’ where it is strictly forbidden to carry out earth movements or the erection of greenhouses yet, the ecologists point out, people go ahead and do it because they simply ‘can.’
No matter that the Motril PGOU lists this area as non-building land, of ‘special landscape protection,’ where is its explicitly forbidden to carry out anything that could ‘degrade the landscape and natural value’ of this protected area.
The ecologists press release concludes, pessimistically but accurately, nobody will care until they drag dead bodies from the barranco and then loud lamentation will launched against how badly Nature treats us, whilst the real culprits, they cynically add, wash their hands of it and fill their pockets.
Their closing sentence, “Sometimes we really doubt if we have the country that we merit.”
The question is, can anybody seriously disagree with them and their pessimistic conclusion.
Seaside Gazette
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
