At least 23 organizations from Puebla and Tlaxcala demanded that industrial discharges be controlled and that comprehensive cleanup of the Alto Atoyac be guaranteed.
A total of 23 groups, including civil society organizations and communities from Puebla and Tlaxcala, demanded that federal and state governments guarantee the comprehensive cleanup of the Atoyac River and stop industrial discharges of toxic substances. They warned that, if this is not done, recovery programs could become a simulation and a waste of public resources.
The demand emerged during the Meeting of Struggles Against Devastation and for Socio-environmental Justice in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Region, held on August 22 in Chiautempan, Tlaxcala, and was included in a statement issued the following day.
The organizations said that the cleanup plan announced by the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo does not include sufficient measures to control toxic industrial substances. They therefore demanded that companies be required to treat their wastewater and prevent pollutant discharges into bodies of water, soil, and air.
According to Omar Arellano, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), at least 112 different contaminants have been identified in the area.
They also called for the reactivation of existing treatment plants to exclusively handle municipal wastewater, as well as the promotion of dry toilets, household treatment systems, and rainwater harvesting. At the municipal level, they proposed prevention programs and comprehensive solid-waste management with citizen participation.
The groups said that pollution is also affecting the health of communities. A study by UNAM geographer Samuel Rosado Zaidi, based on data from INEGI, indicates that between 2015 and 2019, 17,589 people died in the basin from illnesses related to pollution, including different types of cancer and blood disorders.
They reject industrial projects
The organizations also rejected the Poles of Circular Economy for Well-Being (PODECIBI) planned in Atlangatepec, Tlaxcala, and San José Chiapa, Puebla, as well as other state projects that they consider harmful to the territory.
“We reject the fact that the governments of Puebla and Tlaxcala intend to impose their idea of progress. The socio-environmental crisis in our territory is so deep and extensive that the only thing capable of resolving it is community organization and for the government to obey the popular mandate.”
Among the groups that signed the statement are Centro Fray Julián Garcés Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Local A.C., Coordinadora por un Atoyac con Vida, Movimiento en Defensa del Agua, la Tierra y la Vida de San José Chiapa, Raíces Poblanas Defensoras del Territorio, and Red Mazatentli.
Finally, they demanded that all three levels of government “stop pretending to carry out the comprehensive cleanup of the basins” and allocate public resources toward reducing industrial discharges and restoring bodies of water.
Source: elpopular
