Last night’s bad weather brought the critical issues of the Tropea sewerage system back into the spotlight, where 22.6 millimeters of rain fell between 7pm and 7.50pm. A quantity that is not exceptional, but still sufficient to cause new flooding, raised manholes and widespread sewage spills. The alarm was raised by former city councilor Antonio Piserà, who speaks of a situation that is now “no longer tolerable”.
The inconveniences have once again affected the same areas considered critical points for years. The water blew up manholes along the road to the port, caused new spills on the Marina del Convento seafront and generated a massive presence of sewage and smelly sludge in Largo Vaccari, right in the city centre. For Piserà, this last area represents the most obvious example of a structural problem: according to the testimonies collected, the manhole would now be subject to collapse even with minimal rainfall, putting residents, visitors and commercial activities at risk.
The same rainfall caused further inconvenience along the Strada della Grazia, where mud and gravel invaded the roadway. Piserà links the phenomenon to the works underway on the Drapia-Tropea hilly road, arguing that the materials present on the hill would be dragged towards the valley, compromising the safety of the road.
The former councilor defines what happened as a serious problem of public health and urban decorum, with negative repercussions on the quality of life of residents, workers, tourists and on the normal functioning of economic activities. According to Piserà, the repetition of the same episodes demonstrates that these are not occasional emergencies, but structural deficiencies that have been ignored for too long.
Piserà asks the Extraordinary Commission and the competent offices to intervene urgently to sanitize the affected areas, restore safety along the Strada della Grazia and finally start a decisive intervention on Largo Vaccari, where “the situation has become unsustainable for families, residents and operators”. «Tropea deserves respect, safety and concrete solutions – he concludes – not yet another emergency every time it rains».