In Madagascar, the inhabitants of a hill in Antananarivo in the anguish of falling rocks

Published on : 10/21/2021 – 8:19 PM

Manjakamiadana hill is one of the highest in Antananarivo. It is also of great historical significance since there is perched the Rova Palace of Manjakamiadana, also called the Queen’s Palace, where the various rulers of the country resided between the 18th century.^e and the XIX^e centuries.

Around this palace have developed over the years several districts whose homes were built on the slopes of the hill: this is the Upper Town. But for several months, concern has been mounting among residents as the rainy season approaches. Large cracks have appeared in the rocks that sit on the roofs of the houses below, and large blocks of stone threaten to fall.

“The rocks are crumbling and some are as if detached from the hill”

Aimanantsu, 30, lives in the Ampamarinana neighborhood, one of the most vulnerable.

My neighborhood is located west of the Queen’s Palace. Here we live in constant fear of one day being killed by a landslide. The rocks are crumbling and some are as if detached from the hill.

Sometimes stones fall on the roofs and destroy houses. And that regularly causes injuries. But it would only take a heavy rain or a cyclone for everything to collapse. Every year, there are landslides that cause dozens of deaths.

Some superstitious people think that it is the spirits of the ancients who are angry and punish us for not respecting certain prohibitions. But me, I think the rocks are weathered from torrential rains and sudden from global warming [ces dernières années le pays a connu des saisons pluvieuses dévastatrices, mais nous n’avons pas trouvé des données illustrant l’intensification des pluies, NDLR].

Since the landslide, in February 2019, of a rock in Amparimanana, who had killed four people, the Malagasy media regularly warn of the threat of landslide due to the porosity of the rocks exposed to the rain.

“Evacuate: it is the only solution to avoid the tragedy”

That year, the online media Madagascar-Tribune.com estimated at least 2,000 the number of vulnerable inhabitants. According to Olivier Elack, brigadier general and director of the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC), contacted by the editorial staff of France 24 Observers, “the danger is now imminent for around 50 houses”.

We sent teams there to see the condition of the rocks. They are constantly monitored. The rocks of the hill are also degrading due to human activities and the demographic pressure exerted on this hill.

There are more and more cars and trucks passing by every day. And more and more people are building on the side of the hill. Some in an anarchic manner without permission and in places where it should not be. Better control of these illicit constructions would have made it possible to reduce the danger. The places most at risk have been identified and we have asked residents to leave their homes. Evacuate: this is the only solution to avoid the tragedy.

“For the moment, the authorities are asleep”

But like many residents, Aimanantsu is not ready to abandon the house where he was born and lived all his childhood with his parents.

To go where ? We have nowhere to go. We have always lived here and we do not plan to leave this place. For now, red flags have been placed in places identified as critical. But the state must help us find more drastic solutions. Or find us accommodation that is not far from our workplaces. Either extract the blocks of rock that have come off. But for the moment, the authorities are asleep.

The latter solution had already been tested in 2018. According to L’Express de Madagascar, a rock weighing about fifteen tons which had deviated from the bedrock had then been destroyed in the Ambohitsiroa district. But for the director of the National Office of Risk and Disaster Management, such a measure is not on the agenda.

In 2018, the rock in question was isolated. This is not the case with those we have currently spotted and which are close to homes. This solution would endanger the populations. I understand that this is difficult. But the only solution would be to leave the place. We raise awareness and try to convince the inhabitants. But the choice to stay or to leave is theirs.