The Generalitat Valenciana demands an audit of the technical means of prevention and anticipation of flood risk available in the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ).
From the autonomous administration they consider “unheard of and worrying the lack of warning sirens at the Forata dam», dependent and managed by the CHJ, since this type of acoustic systems are essential to warn the populations near the dam of the risk of infrastructure breakdown.
“It is incomprehensible that the CHJ has not installed this device in the dam, especially because it is mandatory, since it is included in the Emergency Plan of the dam itself,” say sources from the Generalitat.
In his opinion, this is “obvious irresponsibility on the part of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, which should have installed the sirens to alert the population required by the regulations.”
«This negligence, which was evident during the damage of last October 29, represents an unacceptable risk for the municipalities around the dam, which if they had gone to Scenario 3 (definitive breakage of the dama circumstance that was about to happen), they could not have been notified by the CHJ through this system as it was not installed,” the Valencian administration points out.
According to them, these sirens had to serve to “immediately” alert the towns of Yátova, Macastre, Alborache and Turís, among others, of the definitive failure of the dam.
Therefore, the Generalitat sees it as “inadmissible” that a critical infrastructure such as the Forata dam, classified in the highest risk category, lacks a mandatory alert system “for more than a decade.” “This lack of action reveals ineffective management and questionable use of public resources,” he denounces.
Furthermore, he states that the CHJ “did not convene the Permanent Security Committee on October 29” and “nor did it have an early warning system installed (SAT) to avoid, reduce and anticipate flood risks. “A system that, according to the own words of Teresa Ribera, now former Minister of Ecological Transition, could have saved lives, and that is available and installed in the Ebro hydrographic confederation,” he adds.
“Why was Scenario 3 not activated?”
For all these reasons, the Generalitat first demands an “immediate and independent” audit that “rigorously” analyzes the destination of public funds managed by the CHJ to “guarantee that every euro invested in security is used effectively.”
It also requests detailed and immediate explanations from the president of the CHJ, Miguel Polo, and the minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, about “why Scenario 3 was not activated, despite the fact that the circumstances fully justified it»: «We want to know if this decision was made to cover up the lack of warning sirens.»
Another of their demands is an urgent action plan, with specific deadlines, to install mandatory alert systems in all CHJ hydraulic infrastructures that require it.
«The Generalitat is willing to collaborate in the cost of installing the necessary sirens in the highest risk areas. Although the Generalitat does not have the obligation to replace the functions of the central government, it will not allow the CHJ to add more due to the lack of resources. unnecessary risks due to possible floods», they emphasize from the autonomous administration.
And they emphasize that “the safety of Valencians is not negotiable”: “The Consell will not tolerate any more excuses or delays in the implementation of the version in all the security systems, reduction and anticipation of the risk of floods and warning to the towns of the Júcar demarcation.
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