The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management pointed out that the area of influence of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano covers 22 municipalities in the departments of Tolima, Caldas, Risaralda, Valle del Cauca, Quindío and Cundinamarca; as well as 57,000 people: 14,000 of them in municipal capitals and 42,000 in scattered rural areas.
The general director of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), Javier Pava Sánchez, has announced at a press conference that the National Response Plan for activity of the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano has been activated. In addition, the response protocols have been activated at the departmental and municipal level in response to the orange alert issued by the Colombian Geological Service (SGC) due to the activity of the volcano.
The area of influence of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano covers 22 municipalities in the departments of Tolima, Caldas, Risaralda, Valle del Cauca, Quindío and Cundinamarca, as well as 57,000 people: 14,000 of them in municipal capitals and 42,000 in scattered rural areas. The general director of the UNGRD has assured that the necessary actions are being coordinated for the evacuation readiness of the people who live in the municipalities of Villa María in the department of Caldas, Casa Blanca, Herveo, Murillo and Villa Hermosa in Tolima, and in the Gualí river sector in the municipality of Guaduas, Cundinamarca, which are within the high threat zone.
According to the official, earthquakes and ash fumaroles are currently being recorded in the area of influence of the volcano, which could increase or decrease depending on what the Colombian Geological Service indicates. For this reason, the technical and operational entities that are part of the National Disaster Risk Management System are working permanently in coordination with the municipal and departmental disaster risk management councils to have evacuation routes and areas defined.
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The general director of the UNGRD has emphasized the importance of maintaining direct public communication with the communities to inform them about the conditions and prepare them for an eventual evacuation. It has also announced the signing of an inter-administrative agreement with the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam) and the Colombian Geological Service worth $18 billion to characterize the risk scenarios in the country and the communities located in those zones.
“In the event of any of the volcanic phenomena, what we are going to do is put into practice the plan that has been worked on for some time. There is a special zoning of the areas that may be exposed and that implies maintaining a public and direct communication with the communities to inform them about the conditions and that they are prepared in the event of an eventual evacuation and, on the other hand, the issue of enlistment by the relief or response entities that must provide support in the event that these people are required to be evacuated”, emphasized the general director of the UNGRD.