Deal promptly and synergistically with the serious erosion emergency that has affected the Bocale coast, in the area immediately south of Punta Pellaro. This was the objective of the operational meeting held today at Palazzo Alvaro, convened by the Acting Mayor Carmelo Versace at the request of the Metropolitan Councilor Giuseppe Marino.
The top management of the two bodies involved took part in the technical table: for the Metropolitan City the Director of Sector 10 Protection of the Territory and the Environment Domenica Catalfamo, for the Municipality of Reggio Calabria the Directors of the Public Works Sector, Bruno Doldo, and of the Maintenance Sector, Francesco Minutolo, assisted by the technical officials involved in coastal protection.
During the meeting, the critical situation generated following the recent storms that hit the seaside village in the southern area was analyzed in detail. From the joint analysis of the resources it emerged that the funding and interventions currently in place are insufficient to deal with the extraordinary nature of the latest events. For this reason, the Metropolitan City and the Municipality have agreed to forward a request for further funding to the Calabria Region, specifically to the Office of the Regional Commissioner for Coastal Protection.
The strategy defined at Palazzo Alvaro envisages action on two temporal levels, coordinated and technically compatible. Pending regional funding, the Municipality of Reggio Calabria will intervene immediately, in the next few days, activating a “high urgency” procedure. The operation, designed with the support of specialized technicians, involves the construction of groynes and a barrier of boulders to secure the most exposed stretch of coast.
Immediately afterwards, the Metropolitan City will intervene with “Lot Zero” (already partially financed) and “Lot One” of a macro-intervention that will cover the entire area from Punta Pellaro to Capo D’Armi, for which the finding of further regional resources will be fundamental. On the sidelines of the meeting, Councilor Marino expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the discussion: “Today’s meeting was fundamental in giving a first immediate response to the requests received in recent days following the serious emergency that occurred in the Bocale area, in particular after the violent storms that hit the southern coast and which put not only the coastal stretch at risk, but also the homes of the citizens residing in that area. We have put in place an essential institutional synergy to respond to this serious emergency, immediately planning a highly urgent intervention by the Municipality, with the safety works that will begin in the next few days. It is a strong signal of closeness to the territory and the residents.
At the same time, we are working on programming with a more structured plan for which it will be necessary to intervene at multiple levels. The objective is to move from the emergency to the structural protection of the entire coastal strip south of Reggio Calabria, in a very important landscape area in which we want to continue investing in line with the many interventions already planned in recent years”.