Peru declares 131 districts in a state of emergency due to “imminent danger” of water deficit caused by “El Niño”

The Government of Peru declared today a state of emergency for 60 days in 131 districts of nine departments of the South American country due to “imminent danger” given the water deficit that could be generated by the possible arrival of the “El Niño” phenomenon to the Peruvian territory.

According to the Supreme Decree published this Sunday in the official newspaper “El Peruano”, the districts covered by the special measure correspond to the departments of Apurímac (nine), Arequipa (one), Ayacucho (four), Cusco (23), Huancavelica (seven), Junín (16), Pasco (one), Puno (68) and Tacna (two).

The text explains that the decision was taken “due to the imminent danger of water deficit as a consequence of the possible El Niño phenomenon” to execute “immediate and necessary emergency measures and actions to reduce the existing high risk”.

The regional governments, the National Civil Defense Institute (Indeci), the Ministry of Health, and other institutions will carry out emergency, response, and rehabilitation actions within this framework.

“Such actions must have a direct causal link between the interventions and the event,” said the publication, in addition to the fact that “they may be modified according to the needs and security elements that arise during their execution.”

The measure was adopted after considering Indeci’s situation report, which reflects the concerns of regional and local entities.

The situation report identifies population, agricultural and pasture land, as well as livestock population, exposed “to a very high possibility” of the presence of a “water deficit”, which demands “the adoption of urgent measures”.

The governments of the departments mentioned above do not have the necessary response capacity to deal with a situation such as the one foreseen, which makes necessary the technical and operative intervention of the central government entities.

The text was signed by the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, and the President of the Council of Ministers, Alberto Otárola.

The Supreme Decree was also signed by the heads of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, Nelly Paredes; the Ministry of Defense, Jorge Chávez; and the Ministry of Health, Rosa Gutiérrez.

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