ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO: Stay Indoors, Warn Authorities

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, May 15 1998 (IPS) - Stay indoors, wear surgical masks and take special care of the children and elderly are some of the recommendations issued by authorities in Mexico Friday, aimed at protecting people from the pollution caused by forest fires.

Hospitals in various regions of the country reported a rise in respiratory ailments and medical visits, visibility has been sharply reduced in several Mexican cities, including the capital, and even southern U.S. cities have been affected by the smoke.

Close to 10,000 fires, the highest number logged since 1980, have claimed more than 50 lives and ravaged 248,000 hectares of forests and grasslands in 31 of Mexico’s 32 states since January.

From 300,000 to 700,000 hectares of forests are lost annually in Mexico – one of the world’s fastest rates of deforestation – due to fires, logging, and encroachment by towns and farms. Experts say that many of the forests lost this year will take centuries to recover.

Authorities in the capital and other cities reported high levels of suspended particles in the air, a consequence of the fires, and urged people to say indoors.

The intense heat – which reached a record 34 degrees in Mexico City, the highest temperature recorded this century – and the lack of rain caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon have fanned the fires, which environmental groups say are raging out of control.

The sky over the capital and surrounding areas, home to some 20 million people in this country of 91 million, remained partly covered by a cloud of smoke Friday. A burnt smell can be detected and ashes can be seen floating in the air in some parts of the city.

U.S. lawmakers urged President Bill Clinton to send Mexico aid to fight the fires, warning that the smoke had begun to affect cities in the southern United States and could become a serious public health problem.

“It seems clear that the governments of Mexico and several Central American countries are simply incapable of fighting these enormous fires,” said Senator Phil Gramm.

Mexican Environment Secretary Julia Carabias, accused by environmentalists and opposition politicians of ineptly handling the problem, said the fires would end soon, because the rainy season should start within a couple of weeks.

The drought and heat have reached such levels in the past few days that local authorities in several states asked the government of Ernesto Zedillo to declare their territories in a state of emergency, due to the severe losses suffered by farmers and ranchers.

According to the University of Chapingo, one of Mexico’s leading agricultural research centres, some 300,000 jobs were lost in rural areas this year due to drought and fires.

The country’s reservoirs are currently at only 27 percent of capacity, reported the National Water Commission.

And the Group of Economists and Associates, a private socioeconomic research centre, said grain imports had risen to levels that would have an impact on the entire economy. In January alone Mexico was forced to import 22 million tonnes of corn, more than double the amount purchased in the same month last year, it underlined.

Around 40,000 members of the armed forces, fire fighters and volunteers are currently combatting the fires throughout the country, with the logistical support of more than 50 aircraft.

Authorities say negligence is the source of 90 percent of the fires, while only 10 percent are caused by strictly natural phenomena. They maintain that many of the fires are set by drug traffickers, who use slash and burn techniques to clear land for growing poppies (used in producing opium) and marijuana.