Protest against irrigation dams in France leaves many injured

Several protesters and gendarmes were injured on Saturday, some seriously, in clashes in the center-west of France during a protest against irrigation reservoirs denounced for monopolizing water at the service of agribusiness.

READ ALSO: Two dead among a group of migrants found on a train in Texas

The incidents occurred in the municipality of Sainte-Soline, some 400 km southwest of Paris, increasing social tension in a country convulsed for weeks by protests and strikes against the reform of the pension system.

“Among the protesters treated by the medical teams there are two seriously injured, one of them with head trauma,” authorities indicated.

Among the gendarmes there are 16 injured, six of whom were hospitalized while another, with serious injuries, must be evacuated by helicopter, the same source said.

According to the environmental movement Soulèvements de la Terre (Earth Uprisings), the clashes left “several dozen seriously injured” among the protesters, three of them in a state of “vital emergency”.

A deputy from the left-wing LFI party, Manon Meunier, told AFP that two injured have a compromised vital prognosis, but this information has not been confirmed by the authorities.

“I saw at least 30 people injured and there are more. Some had lost consciousness and others were bleeding from the head.”said Claire Auger, a teacher, who helped them shortly before.

LOOK HERE: At least 23 dead in Mississippi from a tornado and strong storms

The protest, which had not been authorized by the prefecture, brought together some 6,000 people, according to authorities, and 25,000, according to organizers.

The Ministry of the Interior mobilized 3,200 gendarmes and police, twice as many as in a previous manifestation in October.

In the surroundings of the reservoir, multiple explosions took place and several gendarmerie vehicles were hit.

Most of the marchers, however, demonstrated peacefully.

“While the country stands up to defend pensions, we will go in parallel to defend water”, said the organizers of the event.

These reservoirs store the water drawn from the groundwater table during the rainy season and keep it outdoors for irrigation purposes in case of drought or water consumption restrictions.

According to their defenders, they are essential to irrigate the fields in the face of global warming but, for their detractors, they serve to make agribusiness monopolize water, to the detriment of small producers.

The construction of the Sainte-Soline reservoir has a cost of 70 million euros (75 million dollars), financed 70% by public funds on the condition that agroecological methods are used.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.