In November 2016, the Constitutional Court issued ruling T-622 of 2016 that recognizes the Atrato river as a subject of rights, with a view to guaranteeing its conservation and protection.
In the fifth order of said sentence, the Ministry of the Environment is ordered to implement an Action Plan that includes the restoration of the Atrato river bed, the elimination of sandbanks and the reforestation of the areas affected by legal and illegal mining. .
And now, more than six years later, the Council of State affirms that “to date none of the processes ordered in the guardianship sentence have materialized, that is, there is no evidence to show that the Ministry of the Environment initiated effectively the restoration of the Atrato river bed, the removal of sandbanks or the reforestation process”.
“What is envisioned up to now is the development of a preliminary phase and studies of the area and its particularities, which, without a doubt, is necessary for the coordinated, articulated and planned development of the activities required in the case, but it does not demonstrate full compliance with the special protection measures ordered by the Constitutional Court in this case. The foregoing despite the fact that the guardianship order was clear in providing certain deadlines, for the realization of these”.
“Now, this Subsection does not overlook the complexity of the matter, which, among other things, implies the concertation of each measure or action with the communities, with other national, departmental and municipal entities and with the control and the public force, and less the complexity of the issues related to water sources and the identification of environmental, social, economic and cultural factors that converge in this matter”.