PRESENT.
After analyzing reports and recommendations from the Technical Meas, the COE of Alausí, on Wednesday night, March 15, 2023, declared the Casual sector in an Emergency situation, due to the effects of mass movements that have caused landslides. of land and subsidence in this area of the canton.
The situation in this sector of Alausí is getting more and more complicated; Residents of “Casual” are on full alert and awaiting concrete actions by the different State portfolios. The cracks that appeared in this section of the Panamericana Sur (E 35) a couple of months ago are expanding more every day; The fissures that were around 20 centimeters a few weeks ago currently exceed 80 centimeters, and are expanding rapidly to the La Esperanza sector, where cracking of the ground and damage to homes in this area are already evident.
Due to the heavy rains that have been recorded in the area, continuous landslides have been generated, which have forced the complete closure of this section of road. With the purpose of protecting the safety and integrity of the families that live in this affected area, the COE Alausí recommended voluntary evacuation of the families, so on the morning of this Thursday, March 16 of this year, technicians from the Cantonal Risk Unit, Firefighters and the Risk Secretariat, toured the area of ”Casual” and La Esperanza, notifying families about this dangerous event. In this context, the Municipality of Alausí set up temporary accommodation that houses about 10 families residing in this area. “We seek to protect the safety of all residents, so we work in coordination with all institutions,” said Julián Tucumbi, coordinator of the Risk Secretariat.
As part of the recommendations issued by the Cantonal COE, it was decided to restrict the circulation of heavy and light vehicles through this section of the Panamericana Sur, enabling alternate routes, including: Pueblo Viejo-Alausí-Chunchi; Alausi-García Moreno-Guamote; and, Zhud-El Triunfo-Cumandá-Pallatanga-Riobamba. This Thursday morning and afternoon, more than 200 vehicles were stranded at the entrance of the canton, awaiting instructions from the authorities. National Police deployed several troops to manage traffic. In the afternoon, the Provincial COE was activated to learn about the different reports from the Technical Committees and coordinate response actions in the affected areas.