Environmentalists warn, as in this part the soil and the subsoil are very fragile, and will not be able to support the weight of the train.
Smaller constructions have already harmed the cenotes, so the Maya Train could generate greater damage.
Environmentalists and civil organizations warned that the construction of Section 5 of the Mayan Train, which runs from Cancun to Tulum, threatens to destroy the largest underground river system in the world, affecting the flora and fauna of the place and deforesting the last bastions of jungle that remain in Mexico.
Beneath the new layout of Section 5 of this ambitious project, the Youth for Solidarity collective denounced, is one of the most extensive and important underwater systems in the world, known as Dos Ojos-Sac Actún, which is part of the karstic landscape of the peninsula from Yucatan.
And it is precisely the type of “karstic” soil that is fragile and vulnerable to the construction of this AMLO’s signature mega-projects along with the AIFA Airport, the Trans-Isthmus Railway, and the Dos Bocas Refinery.
Consequently, the construction of this emblematic project of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on the local water cenotes could cause collapses and landslides due to the perforations of the machinery, and most importantly, the vibrations will generate when moving.
“They are going to knock them down or they will have to dynamite them because some cenotes are high up,” lamented Otto von Bertrab, from the civil association Centinelas del Agua.
Centinelas del Agua and other environmental organizations in Quintana Roo denounced that the construction of section 5 of the Mayan Train began without environmental impact studies, geophysical studies, or the relocation of flora and fauna. But their voice has gone unheard by the federal government so far.
In addition to the fact that the megaproject would expose the species that inhabit the underground rivers, it would also affect their natural flow that culminates in the sea, obstructing its passage or contaminating it, which would lead to damages to the beaches of the Riviera Maya and, consequently, to the tourism.
There are already landslides on the Cancun-Tulum highway due to the construction of the Mayan Train.
¡Necesitamos la selva y el agua, no un tren! Firma para frenar el Tramo 5 del Tren Maya: https://t.co/pFyn3Cpoxr
— Greenpeace México (@greenpeacemx) March 22, 2022
Un centenar de comunidades de artistas, pueblos originarios, académicos, especialistas y sociedad civil nos sumamos a la campaña nacional de @selvamedeltren ✊. pic.twitter.com/SUTj0qIwLA
“If this project continues without considering the impacts on the environment, we will lose the natural wealth that has made Mexico one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The cenotes that harbor life will be destroyed. Species such as the jaguar, a symbol of the Maya cultural heritage, will be left without their only home,” said the Greenpeace Mexico organization.
Given the threat that the work represents for the ecosystems of the region, and within the framework of International Water Day (March 22nd), a hundred communities of artists, native peoples, academics, specialists, and civil society demanded that the Mexican Government modify the works of Section 5 of the Maya Train Project.
With the hashtag #SelvameDelTren, they launched a campaign to prevent the work from being built on the region’s cenote system.
Voices such as Kate del Castillo, Omar Chaparro, Saúl Hernández, Eugenio Derbez, among many other Mexican celebrities, joined the campaign.
Source: OEM
