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05 May 2018A huge tragedy created by extreme weather events, but "favored and magnified by a reckless exploitation of the land, by neglect and superficiality in dealing with the dangers deriving from the hydrogeological structure". These are the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, pronounced on the 20th anniversary of the Sarno tragedy, an environmental disaster that caused the death of 160 people on 5 May 1998. Mattarella confirmed his closeness and confirmed the "solidarity of the entire country to the families of the victims, to all those who suffered the terrible consequences of landslides and of the floods, to those who, with tenacity and hope, have worked in these years and still work for the full recovery of the life of the communities ".

The municipality of Sarno paid the highest tribute of human lives, but the landslides and the terrible mudslides of that day brought mourning also in the municipalities of Quindici and Siano and did not spare those of Bracigliano and San Felice a Cancello. "The images of those dramatic hours are still etched in our memory and remain a warning to the entire nation," the head of state recalled, adding that "rains of extraordinary magnitude cannot turn into a cataclysm from which the population, defenseless, he cannot defend himself. Prevention, care of the land, hydrogeological balance, harmony between the environment and urban areas are now traits of an indispensable civilization ”. The president concluded that "the environment is part of our life and is the foundation of social, economic and civil well-being".

In Italy, people still die due to hydrogeological instability: there were 189 victims of floods or floods between 2000 and 2017. 2 million cubic meters of mud and soil broke away from the slopes of Monte Pizzo d'Alvano, bringing 137 dead in Sarno alone, 11 in Quindici and 5 in Siano. Episcopio, a hamlet of Sarno, was literally razed to the ground. And on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary, a public selection will be presented in Salerno for the award of a one-year scholarship on the topic 'Effectiveness and efficiency of risk reduction interventions following the events of May 5, 1998 in Sarno'. Initiative promoted by 'Rinascere', the association of landslide victims, to study "what has been done for the affected territories". In particular, it will be necessary to “examine the current status of the works carried out, paying attention to what maintenance interventions have been planned and implemented and how effectively”, to answer the question that all affected populations make: if and in which measures interventions "have led to a reduction in risk and, especially if, based on time and the amounts used, the best response has been offered for the prevention of the natural phenomenon of rapid mudslides in the municipal area of ​​Sarno".

And at the beginning of the legislature there are two new bills announced by the former president of Legambiente, now a Liberi and Uguali deputy, Rossella Muroni, one "against the consumption of land and one to counter the illegal construction that favors and regulates the demolition of abuses and the restoration of places ". There are already instruments such as the so-called 'Sarno decree', later converted into Law No. 267 of 1998, which provided" among other things the creation of plans for hydrogeological planning with maps of areas at risk landslides and floods ". But, the parliamentarian warns, "there is still a great deal to be done to put the country away from the hydrogeological risk. A phenomenon that in the past has often been amplified by illegal construction and neglect. And that today it is aggravated by the current climate changes and by consequent intensification of extreme weather phenomena ".