The flood that killed at least 25 people and left dozens injured and missing in the sectors of La Gasca and La Comuna once again put the development of the Urkupamba private project, located on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, but more than a kilometer from the area of the tragedy.
The Urkupamba project is still on paper, its promoters They haven’t built any infrastructure yet.. It consists of a ecological ashes; that is, in a place where, if the initiative materializes, the remains of the deceased will be cremated and the ashes deposited in biodegradable urns.
Andrés Carrasco, legal representative of the Urkupamba project, in an interview with EL UNIVERSO explained that these urns will be buried around trees that will be planted on the spot. “It is not the same as a cemetery, where bodies will be buried”, precise.
He stated that no construction has been carried out on the site, “much less trees have been cut down”, due to the processes that have dragged on since 2015 to obtain authorization from the Municipality of Quito.
What has been done so far, he said, is maintain existing infrastructure -and that belonged to the old Rumipamba quarry- clean the drains, ditches, water outlets. “That is why here, nor on Mariana de Jesús Avenue there were no damages due to the downpour on January 31”.
In a statement dated February 1, the Urkupamba company stated that one of the main goals of the project will be the Andean forest recovery of the northern slope of the Rumipamba ravine, in order to create an environment conducive to business.
The project comprises an area of 314 hectares (ha) divided into 273 ha for an ecological reserve, 3 ha for a neighborhood park and 35 ha will be allocated for the ashes, which will develop progressively over 20 years. In this space, the construction area will be 2,800 meters. The investment for the development of Urkupamba is calculated in $5 million, Carrasco advanced.
On the company’s website, a list of nine points is displayed with the permits and licenses obtained in municipal instances, feasibility reports, approval of the Fire Department, among others.
However, the legal part has had obstacles since 2020. Through a statement, the Municipality explained that in June 2020 the Eugenio Espejo Zonal Administration granted the building permit. Later, in June 2021, the same Zonal Administration declared null, through an administrative act. Next, due to a review request made by Carrasco, the nullity was reversed by the Attorney Metropolitana, in December 2021, since legal errors were found.
Some sectors, even political figures, oppose the project and blamed for Monday’s natural disaster. They say that trees have been felled in the area and that a work of this type should not be allowed within the dense vegetation.
The council, on the other hand, has ruled out any relationship between the alluvium and the ash heap, because it is not near the El Tejado ravine -overflowed by the rains-, but further north, in the Rumipamba ravine. In addition, in an overflight carried out on Tuesday by the authorities, to observe the magnitude of the overflow of water, it was found that there is no deforestation in the El Tejado creek.
Mayor Santiago Guarderas and the manager of the Metropolitan Public Potable Water and Sanitation Company (EPMAPS), Othón Zevallos, affirmed that the alluvium was the product of intense rains that reached record levels of water accumulation, saturating the reservoir and clogging the catchment tower of the stream.
Because of what happened, Urkupamba quickly became a trend on social networks since Tuesday, with comments of all kinds. It was even speculated that Guarderas would be a shareholder of the company behind the project; this was denied by the mayor. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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