Chilla canton declared an emergency because its roads were destroyed by winter

Machala

Since the morning of Monday, March 14, the residents of the Chilla canton, in the province of El Oro, have been held incommunicado due to the damage caused by the winter.

The mayor of this jurisdiction, Richard Cartuche, together with the councilors declared a territorial emergency to ask the provincial Emergency Operations Committee (COE) and the national government for immediate intervention to rebuild the roads.

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“We are incommunicado because the Quera-Porotillo-Chilla road was totally destroyed by two heavy rains. We are in an emergency because we also do not have electricity and drinking water, we want the community of the province of El Oro to know the harsh reality that makes it impossible for our producers to go to the markets,” said Cartuche, who led the cantonal COE in the Carabota sector, where there are affected families.

On Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13, heavy rains affected homes, crops and the main road. This forced families from the Carabota, Sadayacu and Tucumba sectors to abandon their homes and seek refuge in safe places such as the sector’s chapel.

The mayor stated that the nutrition of citizens, health and the agricultural sector have been affected. The increasing rainwater also damaged the drinking water pipes of these communities.

The mayor of Chilla said that there are around 1,500 meters of pipeline that collapsed, leaving dozens of families without this basic service.

Also, several power poles collapsed this winter and left citizens without service.

“It is impossible to get to the cantonal capital by vehicle because the road disappeared with the landslides. We have to wait for machinery to arrive to carry out the rehabilitation work and at least we consider that it will take about three days to enable the passage, “said the mayor of Chilla, a canton located at 3,000 meters above sea level.

Affectations in Pasaje and Zaruma

The winter also affected part of the road that leads from Quera to Uzhcurrumi, this road was disabled due to the loss of a section and left the inhabitants of the parish, whose jurisdiction is the Pasaje canton, with no way out.

The Girón canton is declared in emergency due to winter ravages. There were cars trapped, landslides, families evacuated and houses and roads affected

In the center of the parish, a large amount of mud and rocks accumulated that were washed away by last weekend’s rains.

The damage was also recorded on the road to the Abañín and Guanazán parishes, jurisdiction of the Zaruma canton, where the passage of vehicles is not possible due to the loss of the table in several sections. (I)