Public Land Pollution: Volunteers Clean Virgilio Canal in Valeggio

There are still those who believe that public land, especially along watercourses, can be used as a dump. This is the impression left on the volunteers of the Protezione Civile of Valeggio and Villafranca after they, supported by forest guards, dedicated a couple of Sunday mornings to cleaning a stretch of the Virgilio canal banks from Contrada Bertolini to Borghetto.

“We loaded,” explains Claudio Comparotto, president of the local Alpini section, which forms the heart of the civil protection, “several small trucks, with various materials (from clothing to furniture), but we did not expect to find also quite a few refrigerators.” On the canal bank, some carcasses of these household appliances, stripped of the mechanical and electrical components still usable, had been abandoned.

In other words, the refrigerators had been, so to speak, cannibalized. “We learned from the forest guards,” continues Comparotto, “that, thanks to the collaboration of some nomads who often stop nearby the Mincio, they managed to identify and report a local resident carrying out this kind of practice.”

But judging from the volume of waste discarded along the canal, there must be other people who do not respect the banks. We will need at least another morning to finish the cleaning task.” The materials found were then taken to the eco-island open for a few weeks in the industrial zone, where any citizen can dispose of bulky and various types of waste.

Solutions and awareness

But how can we prevent this situation from recurring and stop the ill practice of using public land as a dumping ground? One solution could be the construction of barriers that block access along the Mincio, in order to prevent vehicle entry and also protect the safety of the increasingly numerous users (runners, cyclists, etc.).

The volunteers who cleaned the canal banks hope, however, that incivility can end thanks to greater awareness that must grow within the population, especially among young people.