Buriticupu is a municipality of Maranhão 400 km from the capital São Luís, where the city decreed a state of public calamity this week because of the advancement of a problem that, for decades, puts at risk houses of residents. It is the gullies, which are large holes in the floor, some with up to hundreds of meters in length and dozens of meters deep, which arise because of the erosion caused by rainwater and are advancing into the city.
At some more critical points, the holes have advanced more than 20 meters towards the houses.
A technical report from the Municipal Engineering Department points out that the problem of erosion is accelerating, especially in the current period of stronger and more intense rains.
With the decree, the City Hall – which has more than 50,000 residents – authorizes the processes of expropriation of private houses that are in danger of being swallowed by the advancement of cracks on Earth.
According to the City Hall, 1,200 people and 250 houses are at risk because they are situated in slope areas.
The municipal decree provides for the exchange of current housing, by others, located in safe areas, but without specifying which. The text determines that the process of disassembly and reconstruction should be supported by the community.
The exemption of bidding for contracts related to the resolution of the problem is valid for six months.
The mayor of Buriticupu, João Carlos Teixeira, met this month with the Minister of Regional Development, Waldez Góes, in Brasilia, to deal with the release of the order of services and hiring to start emergency works.
