The municipal council, chaired by the Mayor Franz Caruso, approved the final project of the hydraulic risk mitigation interventions in the Crati, Busento and Campagnano river basins. The project benefits from funding from the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, amounting to 3 million 940,000.00 euros and dating back to 2010 and which had been completely abandoned by the previous Administration.
“We are constantly engaged – underlines Mayor Franz Caruso – in an action to recover projects which had not been followed up and which we will bring to completion. In particular, the definitive project approved by the Council will allow us to give significant answers to the need for arrangement and restoration of the hydraulic efficiency along the stretches of the waterways (Crati, Busento and Campagnano) currently affected by widespread phenomena of instability. Thanks to the implementation of the project – Franz Caruso continues – on the one hand we will significantly reduce the hydrogeological risks, which have become a true national emergency, even in the Calabrian territories, as demonstrated by the damage suffered due to the heavy rainfall of recent days in the Lamezzo area, and on the other hand, through a work of safety and reorganization of the pedestrian walkways, the rivers will no longer be removed from the usability of citizens”.
Mayor Franz Caruso also listed among other features of the interventions the further mitigation of erosive phenomena, in correspondence with existing works, the regularization of water flow, through adequate reprofiling of the hydraulic section and the cleaning of weed vegetation, in correspondence with sections already affected by hydraulic works. “In the executive phase – added the mayor – the current critical issues will be eliminated and the degradation will be put to an end. The nature of the interventions will not affect the state of the places, but will have a conservative nature. Furthermore, the bottom walls of Crati and Busento will be protected. The project – explained Franz Caruso – also includes the replacement of the wooden bridge in via Oberdan, much awaited by the residents of that particular area of our historic centre. Furthermore, native tree species will be planted, also by virtue of the fact that the interventions must take into account the protection of native vegetation, just as a new lighting system will be created”.
Finally, the Mayor thanked Eng. for the process conducted and for the future implementation of the interventions. Salvatore Modestomanager of the Public Works Sector, the Rup of the intervention, eng. Gennaro Spolverino and the engineer in charge, Paolo Giorgi. The Councilor for Public Works of Palazzo dei Bruzi also insisted on the action to recover the financing which risked being lost, Damiano Covelli. “The Ministry and the Calabria Region – underlines Covelli – had, at the time, signed a Program Agreement aimed precisely at the implementation of urgent and priority soil defense interventions for the mitigation of hydrogeological risk, to be carried out in the regional territory . In 2016, the Region, with its deliberative act, had approved the interinstitutional agreement and subsequently, by decree, the list of strategic interventions was approved, including those for mitigating the landslide risk in the historic center of Cosenza and in the neighboring areas, for which financing of 3 million 940,000.00 euros had been envisaged. But nothing happened. Our Administration – added Councilor Covelli – acted with judgment and determination, taking back control of the project thanks to which these important interventions on our rivers will be carried out”. The transfer of resources will be carried out directly by the office of the Commissioner Delegate for the Mitigation of Hydrogeological Risk in Calabria. The process was completed both with the transmission of the definitive project to the Office of the Commissioner for the fight against hydrogeological instability in the territory of the Calabria Region, in order to allow the activation of the investigation for the acquisition of the necessary and preparatory opinions for the design executive, and as a result of the conclusion of the work of the services conference called by the commissioner himself with the approval of the same definitive project.