The Lisbon City Council is currently working to stabilize the embankment in the Graça area, following a landslide due to bad weather, which continues to require the relocation of residents, the councilor for Works revealed today.
“We are already under construction, we are already in the field, via topographic survey, via geological surveys, and advancing with the design/construction procedure to stabilize the slope and drain water”, said the councilor for Projects and Works in Public Space, Joana Baptista (independently appointed by the PSD).
The mayor was speaking at the Lisbon Municipal Assembly meeting, as part of the presentation of the municipality’s work between December and January, in response to questions from PEV and BE deputies about the landslide in Graça and the preventive evacuation of buildings.
On February 10, a landslide was recorded in the parish of Graça, in Lisbon, which led to the evacuation of seven people from three buildings on Rua Damasceno Monteiro, as a “preventive and precautionary measure”.
According to councilor Joana Baptista, at issue is the slope between Rua Damasceno Monteiro and Travessa Terras do Monte, which “is a slope with a very significant area”, which already had an intervention by the Lisbon City Council in 2010, as well as in 2017, to consolidate and stabilize the slope.
Following the recent adverse weather conditions, “land collapse has occurred again in an area that has not yet been intervened”, said the person responsible for Works in Public Space.
“All residents are duly informed. All those who were relocated will have to remain that way”he said, explaining that the houses do not yet offer security conditions and adding that the public places on Rua Damasceno Monteiro will also have to be closed for the time being.
“A work will be underway with great projection in the coming months”he indicated.
In this regard, BE presented a recommendation for the chamber to “take immediate measures to stabilize and contain the slope”, a proposal that was approved with IL and CDS-PP voting against.
Regarding the impacts of bad weather in the city, in response to the PCP, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), said that the damage assessment is still being done, but he plans to present this information on Thursday, adding that there are “millions of euros” in damages and noting that “the central State has to respond”.
Carlos Moedas said that the recent bad weather caused “more than 2 thousand incidents” in the city, highlighting the need to intervene “in more than 200 streets, filling potholes” and enhancing the Lisbon General Plan in minimizing the risk of flooding.
The PS asked about the reform in urban hygiene, as the council plans to extend inter-administrative contracts until December 31, 2026, despite Carlos Moedas’ management considering that the delegation of powers to the parish councils was the cause of the problems, to which the PSD mayor responded with the need for a transition period, stating that from 2025 onwards, garbage collection around eco-islands will be ensured by the City Council.
The IL municipal group questioned the Lisboa Sem Fios program, committed to removing dead cables from facades and poles, and the councilor for Urbanism, Vasco Moreira Rato (independently appointed by the PSD), revealed that “so far, 330 buildings have been intervened and around 37 kilometers of cables removed”, and the implementation will continue in the Baixa area, including in the parish of Santa Maria Maior, and with interventions in Carnide, Avenidas Novas, Estrela, Beato e Graça, in the first half of this year, and in Belém, Penha de França, Ajuda, Campo de Ourique, Arroios and São Vicente, in the second half.
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