The cleaning under the bridges will be done with pickaxes and shovels. Photo: Ajijic 2021-2024 Delegation.

Sofía Medeles.- The clearing of bridges and streams in Ajijic has begun, after months of being requested by the inhabitants of La Cristina, La Canacinta and Alceseca because they were still obstructed by debris from the mudslides that occurred in October of last year.

Acting Ajijic delegate Maximiano Macias Arceo said  that the work began by opening the natural channel of the streams with an earth moving machine. However, under the bridges, they will have to do it with a pickaxe and shovel. They began on April 28 from the western limits of the municipality, in the stream of La Cristina.

Macías Arceo stated that their route will be from west to east, up to the area known as «the three bridges.» In total, eight bridges will be cleaned.

The bridges have been almost totally obstructed since October 2021. La Canacinta bridge with several stones and debris in the riverbed. Photo: Sofia Medeles.

The clearing of the riverbeds and bridges is a concern to the residents of these neighborhoods. Several interviewees stated that they feared that, in case of heavy rains, the large amount of dirt, mud and large stones that were still on them would cause problems. 

«Let’s hope that they restore them to ground level, as they were before the mudslides, because many things could come loose if a strong current comes down, such as the boulders that were left there. I don’t doubt that there are logs or dead animals that have been there all these months. At least they didn’t wait until the rainy season,” commented a neighbor who lives in Alceseca.

Translated by Sandy Britton