{"id":52518,"date":"2019-04-02T09:28:07","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T12:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=52518"},"modified":"2023-03-29T09:11:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T12:11:30","slug":"city-council-launches-parliamentary-commission-of-inquiry-on-flooding-to-increase-accountability-for-disaster-prevention-and-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=52518","title":{"rendered":"Rio City Council Launches Inquiry on Flooding and Accountability for Disaster Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique\u00a0aqui\u00a0para Por<\/strong>tugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the strong winds, torrential rain, flash flooding and landslides<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that killed seven people and left a trail of destruction and damage in favelas such as <\/span>Rocinha<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Vidigal<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Barra de Guaratiba<\/span><\/a> on the night of February 6, the Rio de Janeiro City Council<\/span> launched a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Flooding<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Led by<\/span> city councilor Tarc\u00edsio Motta<\/a><\/span> of the Socialism and Liberty Party<\/a> (PSOL),<\/span> the CPI intends to \u201cascertain the circumstances and consequences caused by the storms that recurrently affect the city\u201d and outline the responsibilities of city officials in preventing and mitigating future floods and landslides. Renato Cinco<\/a> of the PSOL is the CPI\u2019s official rapporteur and Marcelo Arar (Brazilian Labor Party\u2013PTB), Rosa Fernandes<\/a> (Brazilian Democratic Movement<\/a>\u2013MDB), and Ti\u00e3ozinho do Jacar\u00e9 (Brazilian Republican Party<\/a>\u2013PRB) also serve as commission members.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThe CPI\u2019s inaugural public meeting<\/a> took place on Thursday, March 28 at the Rio de Janeiro City Council in Cinel\u00e2ndia<\/a>, in downtown Rio. Motta began the day\u2019s proceedings with brief remarks about the importance of holding public officials accountable for improving flood preparedness in Rio de Janeiro. Motta lamented that several of those killed<\/a> by February’s floods and landslides were favela residents and insisted that the CPI must improve public services in vulnerable communities where floods are particularly deadly<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

After his introductory remarks, Motta ceded the floor to two Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) professors,\u00a0Dr. Ana Luiza Coelho Netto<\/span><\/a>\u2014who coordinates the Geo-Hydrology Laboratory (GEOHECO) at UFRJ’s Institute of Geosciences\u2014<\/span>and Dr. Leonardo Esteves de Freitas<\/a>. Both professors specialize in geography, geoscience, and environmental biology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Netto presented first, explaining to attendees that increased deforestation in forests and national parks outside of Rio de Janeiro in recent decades has catalyzed a corresponding<\/span> increase in flooding and landslides within the city proper<\/span><\/a>. She used maps and images of past flooding and rainfall patterns to demonstrate that \u201cforests are functional\u201d in that they can mitigate the impacts of heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro. However, as the city has expanded and<\/span> vegetation has been cut down in places like the Tijuca National Park<\/span><\/a>, rainwater has begun to flow freely down mountainsides and into human settlements. Netto argued that the best way to protect the entire city of Rio de Janeiro from flooding is to<\/span> reforest peripheral parks and mountains<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

She elaborated by saying that from a human rights perspective, sanitation systems in favelas should receive more public funding<\/a>, but that drainage systems alone cannot protect favelas or other hillside settlements from the disproportionate inundation they receive. Netto\u2019s analysis provides an explanation for the damage done not just to favelas, but also to upscale communities on hillsides, such as in the<\/span>\u00a0S\u00e3o Conrado<\/span><\/a> region, where flooding affected wealthy neighborhoods<\/a> with developed drainage systems as well. \u201cVegetation matters,\u201d Netto emphasized, and policymakers must be held accountable for protecting forests to ensure health, safety, and dignity for their citizens. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Netto\u2019s remarks stand in direct contrast to the rhetoric espoused<\/a> by Rio de Janeiro Mayor <\/span>Marcelo Crivella<\/span><\/a> and Governor <\/span>Wilson Witzel<\/span><\/a>. After major floods in 2018, Crivella erroneously<\/span> blamed environmental regulations<\/span><\/a> and tree cover in the city for increasing flood damage. According to the science presented by Netto, Witzel is advocating for \u201cflood prevention\u201d policies that will actually increase flooding and landslides in the future. <\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Freitas spoke next, focusing his presentation on environmental justice in Rio de Janeiro. Freitas talked at length about how \u201cvulnerability is a social condition\u201d and that vulnerability to environmental risks like flooding and landslides<\/a> is directly linked to other forms of socioeconomic vulnerability. \u201cIt is too easy for people to attribute disasters to nature,\u201d Freitas argued, highlighting that the disastrous impacts of extreme weather events in Rio de Janeiro are directly caused by<\/span> political and economic marginalization of favelas<\/span><\/a>. Freitas condemned the displacement and eviction of favela residents due to flood risks<\/a>, emphasizing that the relocation of these communities to places with no schools, banks, hospitals, or facilities only \u201ccontinues the disaster\u201d and increases the overall vulnerability of these communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

This directly contradicts the public policies proposed by Mayor Crivella, who has blamed the “disorderly occupation<\/span><\/a>“ of hillsides by favela residents for the fatalities during floods. In the aftermath of February’s floods, Crivella emphasized the technical inviability of improving drainage systems<\/a> in favelas such as<\/span>\u00a0Rio das Pedras<\/a><\/span> (located in Rio’s West Zone<\/a>), suggesting that relocation is the best solution to the community’s flood problem. In contrast, Freitas posited that from an environmental justice perspective, favelas must be allowed to remain where they are. As such, building community resilience through environmental education programs, flood preparedness drills, and dialogue with policymakers is key to mitigating disasters in the future.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

After thanking the professors for speaking, Motta stressed to attendees: \u201cWe need Rio de Janeiro’s lawmakers to think about how to save lives in the next few years. We cannot remain silent about this situation.\u201d He then opened the floor for questions and emphasized that constituents who had been impacted by flooding were especially encouraged to voice their concerns. No other city councilors or attendees chose to speak, but Motta asked the professors a number of questions about flood policies that were formulated with input from his constituents and fellow city councilors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nMotta told the CPI that \u201cone of the most repeated phrases after the events of February 6,\u201d especially by politicians such as Mayor Crivella, \u201cwas that the city was dealing with<\/span> exceptional rainfall\u2014something extremely rare<\/span><\/a>.\u201d He asked the professors to address this statement and to evaluate Rio de Janeiro\u2019s current preparedness to handle similarly extreme rains in the future. Extreme floods like Rio saw in February are \u201cuncommon, but they are expected,\u201d said Netto. \u201cExtreme [weather] events are becoming increasingly frequent,” she stated. Freitas agreed, adding that that the city is currently not equipped to handle heavy rains and floods. Increasing preparedness \u201cwill be difficult but it is definitely possible,\u201d he said. Since it is possible to predict that Rio de Janeiro will experience intense rains in the future<\/a>, the professors believe that it is also possible to implement policies to mitigate and prevent the disastrous effects of these extreme weather events on human lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Motta continued the conversation by stating that to prevent fatalities from flooding, the CPI must take into account that favela residents are the \u201cmost vulnerable to the impacts of rain. This is the correct interpretation for [the CPI] to start with.\u201d He added that when he and his colleagues were \u201cvisiting communities that were hit by the rains, we found out through residents that the<\/span> siren system<\/span><\/a> was not triggered on February 7\u201d to alert residents about possible flooding. The professors shared Motta\u2019s concern about alarm system failures.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nFreitas added that there is a cultural dimension to emergency response. Since many favela residents view their homes as safe spaces, they are often reticent to abandon them. Moreover, they may be distrustful of warnings from authorities due to the mistreatment and negligence they have experienced in the past during extreme weather events<\/span>. Netto advocated for increased communication between city officials, academics, and favelas resident, as well as \u201cteaching people about escape routes in their communities\u201d in order to improve Rio de Janeiro\u2019s readiness for future floods and landslides.<\/span><\/p>\n

Motta concluded the meeting by voicing his commitment to facilitating further dialogue about extreme weather events and increasing the City Council\u2019s ability to implement \u201cconcrete measures to save lives.\u201d Motta and his fellow city councilors defined the CPI\u2019s next steps and invited all those interested to participate in future meetings. On Thursday, April 4, the city councilors will visit the Court of Auditors to discuss funding concerns related to flooding. The next CPI meetings will focus on sanitation and public health and will take place on Thursday, April 11 with the participation of Dr. Ana L\u00facia Brito<\/a> from UFRJ\u2019s Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism and Dr. Alexandre Pessoa Dias<\/a> from the Polytechnic School at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation<\/a> (Fiocruz), and on Wednesday, April 17 with the participation of S\u00e9rgio Portella<\/a> from Fiocruz and Dr. Suzana Kahn Ribeiro<\/a> from UFRJ\u2019s Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE). Finally, the meeting on Saturday, April 20 will heavily feature the input of favela residents impacted by February\u2019s floods.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique\u00a0aqui\u00a0para Portugu\u00eas In the aftermath of the strong winds, torrential rain, flash flooding and landslides\u00a0that killed seven people and left a trail of destruction and damage in favelas such as Rocinha, Vidigal, Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":188,"featured_media":52550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1854,2555,1288,335,1282,452,1329],"tags":[1027,2917,517,162,472,258,32,163,2128,474,2436,2329,803,78,11,107,26,203,151,2225,2217,301,199,2719,12,2721,535,2042,373,471,2720,2323,363,2878],"writer":[2936],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-52518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-housingwatch","8":"category-monitoringcrivella","9":"category-highlight","10":"category-policies","11":"category-research-analysis","12":"category-rio20","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-area-of-risk-designation","15":"tag-barra-de-guaratiba","16":"tag-cinelandia","17":"tag-city-council","18":"tag-climate-change","19":"tag-community-solution","20":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","21":"tag-cpi","22":"tag-deforestation","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-environmental-justice","25":"tag-fiocruz","26":"tag-flood-risk","27":"tag-floods","28":"tag-forced-evictions","29":"tag-health","30":"tag-housing-rights","31":"tag-inequality","32":"tag-landslide-risk","33":"tag-marcelo-crivella","34":"tag-psol","35":"tag-public-policy","36":"tag-reforestation","37":"tag-renato-cinco-psol","38":"tag-rocinha","39":"tag-rosa-fernandes","40":"tag-sanitation","41":"tag-sao-conrado","42":"tag-sewerage","43":"tag-sustainability","44":"tag-tarcisio-motta","45":"tag-ufrj","46":"tag-vidigal","47":"tag-wilson-witzel","48":"writer-rachel-mucha"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52518"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=52518"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=52518"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=52518"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=52518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}