Peru’s government declared a state of emergency for 60 days in 111 districts in the regions of Arequipa and Puno, in the south of the country, due to an “imminent risk of water shortages”, the National Emergency Operations announced today, Saturday. Center (COEN).
In the supreme decree, published in the official newspaper, the institution detailed that in Arequipa, at least 11 districts in the province of Caravelí have been affected by the lack of water, El Collao, Huancane, Lamp, Melgar, Mold, Puno, San Antonio. de Putina, San Roman, Shalqi and Yunguyo.
According to the resolution, the governors of these departments have warned that local farmers are the main affected as they “are exposed” to the imminent risk of water shortage.
“The available water resources would not be enough to meet the demand for planting or watering their crops, so it is necessary to implement extraordinary measures and actions”, the announcement states.
In this sense, the document emphasized that during the days of the state of emergency, there will be progress in the implementation of immediate and necessary emergency measures and actions to reduce the “very high existing risk”, as well as response and rehabilitation.
These will be developed by the regional governments of Arequipa, Puno, and the local governments involved, with the technical coordination and follow-up of the National Institute of Civil Protection (Indeci) and the participation of several ministries, such as Health, Interior, and Defense, among others.
“The actions in question must have a direct causal link between the interventions and the event and can be modified according to the needs and security elements that arise during their execution,” the decree states.
He also emphasized that the implementation of the actions will be financed from the institutional budget of the involved agencies without requesting additional resources from the Public Treasury.
