Urban development or Environmental degradation?

Land Degradation in Arouca

Almost all of us at one point in time have heard the saying "A picture tells a thousand words." This picture for example which shows the construction of the Arouca River bridge does in fact display multi-faceted problems that may not have been taken into consideration. Before I condemn this urban development project as being "bad", I would like to state that this bridge will have a positive influence for the residents of Arouca as well as those citizens who use the Eastern Main Road as their main transport route. It also displays Arouca's urban growth as the older bridge would now be built to a more modern design. As such there would be a more efficient transport route available for access by the public.

Regardless of the benefits development brings, the process in which  reconstruction undergoes usually creates many environmental impacts during its time of construction. What can you interpret from the picture above? In my opinion, four things come to mind.

1. Land Degradation
2. Air Pollution
3. Noise Pollution
4. Water Pollution

These are some of the major environmental problems being faced today.

Before this area was cleared for construction that is besides for the  bridge, previously the area surrounding the bridge was densely occupied by forest/or large trees as the picture still indicates. This area had to be cleared and graded for the reconstruction because the new bridge required more space to be built. As a result of the removal of these large rooting systems which held together the soil, the land can become vulnerable to erosion by wind, rainfall and even mass movement which can occur due to the body of water situated below, the river.Besides from this degradation that can occur, there is the loss of habitat and ecosystems due to the disruption in the river and by trees. Therefore both fishes and birds have to relocate to find a new place to dwell.

 Arouca Eastern Main Road : Shows the proximity of residents to construction site

Another impact of this bridge development is air pollution. During this construction, the movement in and out of the area by trucks constantly raises dust particles. As there is no trees to intercept the wind blown, the dust that is raised when construction is being done has a profound impact as the atmosphere becomes highly polluted as chemicals used in the materials  for the bridge structure fumigate the area on a daily basis. This can result in allergic reactions amongst residents as it is in close proximity to households. Therefore those persons who suffer from respiratory illnesses would be severely affected as this construction is not a short building process but a long one. Even those who do not suffer from respiratory illnesses can have a low resistance to it and can also develop sinus problems which can be very irritating. Besides being a health hazard to many, the large amounts of dust that is raised on a daily basis contributes to the pollution of households, for example the home environment becomes contaminated regularly thus frustrating  the residents who have to be dusting and cleaning on a daily basis. This was the complaint of a relative of mines who live in the area. She complained about the discolouration of her white washing machine now cream in colour, which was located in her yard was due to the constant dust settling.

Contributing to these environmental effects is the noise which can become intolerable when it is being created daily. This is due to the heavy equipment being transported in and out of the construction site as well as the machinery when doing work. Residents in the neighbourhood encounters problems with this because the noise disturbs their own peace and quiet in their homes as well as cause their pet animals to become irritable from the constant movement in and out the area. This noise also contributed to the relocation of many species from this area due to  the disturbance which was created in their original habit.

Lastly, all these factors come together and individually contributed to water pollution as there is a river situated directly below the bridge. Water becomes polluted due to the heavy soil material which have been pushed into the river by the land degradation. The noise disturbance as well creates a problem for river fishes to spawn due to the vibrations travelling far distances in the water as well as chemicals from materials used to build may be leaked into the water contributing to eutrophication or causing the water pH to change. These factors play a hand in hand role in polluting the water ways and changing its course. 

In an article by the Newsday (February 2014), due to construction at this site there was an incident in which the contractor Jusamco had an accident where they ended up breaking a main WASA pipe. This contributed to areas east and west of the corridor experiencing water lost. Approximately 400,000 households were affected by this which created frustration from the citizens. Even when the problem eventually fixed, many households experienced getting dirty water from their taps. This story can be followed in the following articles "My People are on it" or "Customers must wait 24 more hours".

According to Richard Peiser in his article on "Urban Sprawl" (2012), environmental degradation has resulted from market and regulatory failure to protect the environment. Market failure because it contributes to inefficient development and the poor establishment of open-space and Regulatory failure because it promotes the gluttonous use of land for development. As a result, not only the environment is affected but failure to properly plan can  impact on the lives of people due to the health hazards that can arise.

Reference:

Richard Peiser. 2012. "Urban Sprawl," The Town Planning Review 72: no.3: 284.