Transportation Ministry: Repairs to railway between Cuzco and Machu Picchu have been completed

Repairs to the railway between Cuzco and Machu Picchu have been completed by concessionaire Ferrocarril Transandino, Peru’s deputy minister of transportation, Hjalmar Maragunich, said in a release.

Tourists will be able to access Machu Picchu by train directly from Cuzco starting on July 1, Marangunich said.

He added that from July to September, conductors will have to operate the trains under certain speed restrictions because of the new tracks and also owing to increased curves in the new rail line. Read more…

European Commission to provide $2.64 million for rain-hit regions in southern Peru

The European Commission has approved humanitarian aid worth 2 million Euros ($2.64 million) for residents in Peru’s southern Cuzco and Puno departments who were affected by floods and mudslides caused by heavy rains since last December, state news agency Andina reported.

The funds will be distributed through the European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) department and is expected to benefit more than 60,000 people who were affected by the torrential rainfalls.

The humanitarian assistance will be used to construct temporary housing and provide materials to repair homes. It will also be used to assist in recuperating agriculture sectors damaged by the rains, repairing water and sewage systems, as well as improving activities for the coordination and preparation of disasters.

The operations will be managed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), non-profit organizations Welthungerhilfe of Germany and Italy’s COOPI.

Heavy rains since last December effected 11 departments, particularly the southern Andean regions of Ayacucho, Apurimac, Cuzco, Huancavelica and Puno.

Authorities have said the rains were the most damaging in 15 years. Floods and mudslides caused by the downpours washed away roads and rail lines – including much of the track leading to the sacred Inca citadel Machu Picchu – and more than 55,000 hectares of agriculture land in Cuzco and Puno.

Congressional commission approves project to create national radio for natural disasters

The Peruvian Congress’ civil defense commission approved a project on Monday to create a national radio frequency to help respond to natural disasters, state news agency Andina reported.

The project will allow authorities to help prepare and inform citizens in order to minimize damage during a natural disaster, the head of the commission, Congressman Luis Gonzales Posada, told Andina. He added that the project was supported unanimously by the commission and by Transportation and Communications Minister Enrique Cornejo.

“The transport minister firmly backed setting up a radio with a national reach for civil defense and the environment, for which they will prepare an agreement between Peruvian radio and television, civil defense and the environment ministry,” said Gonzales Posada.

The radio channel will be used to inform citizens of possible tsunamis, freezing temperatures in Peru’s Andean region, and earthquakes. It is expected to be functioning before 2011.

Peru has experienced a variety of natural disasters since the beginning of 2010. One of the most damaging so far this year has been the torrential rainfall that hit Peru’s southern Andean region in January and February.

The rains caused floods and mudslides that destroyed crops, damaged highways and washed away the railway into the country’s sacred Inca citadel and top tourist attraction, Machu Picchu.

State of emergency declared in parts of Ancash after ice block breaks from glacier

Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the province of Carhuaz in Peru’s Ancash region after part of a glacier broke off into a lake creating a massive wave that flooded nearby towns.

“The towns that are in a lot of danger are Hualcán and Pariacaca, which have been blocked off,” the president of Ancash, César Álvarez, told RPP radio station. Álvarez added that the residents are being taken to other areas for their safety.

Álvarez said he has requested a helicopter from Interior Minister Octavio Salazar in order to access areas affected by the flooding and determine the damage.

Peru’s Civil Defense is also working on transporting drinking water to Carhuaz from the capital of Ancash, Huaraz.

According to daily El Comercio, the ice block broke off the Hualcán glacier and crashed into Lake 513. The glacier reportedly measured approximately 500 meters long by 200 meters wide and created a 23 meter wave that flooded the towns of Hualcán, Pariacaca, Acopampa and Carhuaz and damaged a potable water plant.

Six people were originally reported missing, however five were later located — three unharmed and two with minor injuries, according to daily La Republica.

Peru is home to some 70 percent of Earth’s tropical glaciers. The country’s glaciers, which feed hydroelectric plants and provide drinking water to Lima, the world’s second largest desert city after Cairo, Egypt, are in the process of accelerated meltdown due to global warming.

According to Peru’s National Resources Institute, or Inrena, the Andes Mountains have lost at least 22 percent of their glacier area since 1970.

Rescuers find five more bodies following mudslide in Peru’s north-central Andes

Rescue workers have recovered five more bodies in the Huallaga river on Monday in Peru’s north-central Huánuco department, where torrential rain caused a mudslide last week that destroyed the district of Ambo.

According to RPP radio station, 32 bodies have been recovered from Ambo since the landslide, while newspaper El Comercio reported that 45 people are still missing and 145 families have been left homeless.

Meanwhile, Peruvian authorities continue to relocate residents of Ambo to safer areas.

“There are families that after the mudslide on Thursday were just affected, but their homes were located on the banks of the Huallaga river, which is a risky situation,” daily Peru.21 reported Medalith Sotil of the Civil Defense in Huánuco as saying. Read more…

UN to support Peru’s earthquake prevention plan

Cabinet Chief Javier Velásquez said the United Nations has agreed to provide support to Peru for the design of a national strategy to minimize the effects of a major tsunami or earthquake.

According to state news agency Andina, the support will be provided by the UN’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

Velásquez said the ISDR will provide technical support to the Peruvian government to develop a prevention plan as well as a strategy on how to react following a tsunami or quake.

He added that the UN body is currently working with Peru’s National Civil Defense Institution, or Indeci, on a prevention plan in Lima and Callao. The European Union has provided 2 million euros, about $2.7 million, to finance that project.

Peru’s last major earthquake was in August 2007 when a magnitude-8 quake struck southern Peru. In Pisco, the quake destroyed three-quarters of the city center, killed approximately 500 people and left thousands more homeless. According to official figures, some 40,000 homes were destroyed.

Peru’s government was recently criticized for failing to purchase a tsunami alert system requested by the Peru’s Geophysical Institute (IGP) after that quake. Cabinet Chief Javier Velásquez said in early March the executive would authorize the transfer of 3 million soles, about $1.1 million, to the IGP to purchase the system.

IGP: National tsunami alert system will take a year to install

A national tsunami alert system that Peru’s government is planning to purchase will take at least a year to install, according to the chief of Peru’s Geophysical Institute, or IGP.

“The most optimistic is one year because it is not a system that you can find on a shelf, you have to wait for it to be manufactured,” IGP President Ronald Woodman told state news agency Andina. “As well, at the same time we will begin to prepare the land for its installation which will take approximately three months.”

The tsunami alert system will include six seismometers installed throughout the country that will be able to measure and report seismic waves during an earthquake. Woodman said the instruments will communicate seismic events by satellite to determine the quakes epicenter and magnitude.

“It is an integral system that includes the seismometers, reflector stations, satellite communications stations and the service of a satellite,” Woodman said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert for Peru last Saturday after a massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake hit neighboring Chile. The epicenter of the quake occurred offshore about 200 miles south of Santiago. Chile’s government had said that more than 800 people were killed, but reduced that number to 279 on Friday, daily El Comercio reported.

Peru’s government was criticized for failing to purchase a tsunami alert system requested by the IGP after the magnitude-8 earthquake leveled the country’s southern coast in 2007. Cabinet Chief Javier Velásquez said this week the executive would authorize the transfer of 3 million soles, about $1.1 million, to the IGP to purchase the system.

President García announces national earthquake disaster prevention program

President Alan García launched a national program on Wednesday to develop an earthquake disaster prevention program in Peru following the magnitude-8.8 earthquake that hit neighboring Chile last Saturday.

García said engineers will conduct surveys of buildings at risk of collapsing during a powerful quake. The program will primarily focus on urban centers, including Peruvian capital Lima as well as Arequipa and Trujillo, state news agency Andina reported.

“We need all families to be sufficiently prepared to know what to do in the event of a large earthquake,” said García. “To know which are the safest places from a structural and anti-earthquake perspective, and to reinforce them. This won’t have a high cost but it will prepare us for any event.”

The epicenter of Saturday’s quake occurred offshore about 200 miles south of Santiago and 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile’s second largest city where widespread looting has broken out. At least 800 people were killed and 2 million displaced. The Peruvian embassy in Chile said the displaced includes 1,003 Peruvians living in Chile.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert for Chile and Peru after the earthquake and later extended it to other Pacific nations. The warning was canceled on Sunday.

The president of Peru’s Geophysical Institute, Ronald Woodman, told daily El Comercio that Peru’s current tsunami alert system is ineffective. He said the government approved financing to develop an alert system following the magnitude-8 earthquake that devastated Peru’s southern coast in 2007, however has still not provided the funds.

“In 2009, Congress’ Budget Commission understood the importance of this (tsunami) alert system and authorized the Ministry of Economy and Finance to transfer the funds to Peru’s Geophysical Institute to implement a tsunami alert system,” said Woodman. “The entire year passed and they have not provided the money and I don’t know why. They don’t give reasons.”

Seven killed by flooding in Cusco region

Seven people were killed Wednesday when heavy rainfall flooded the Quitamayo river in Pisac, a town located in the Sacred Valley in Peru’s southern Cusco department.

According to Radio Programas Peru, the people were employed by Construyendo Peru, a State-run national program which provides temporary work for the unemployed living in poverty.

The employees were cleaning the river banks when the Quitamayo – a tributary of the Vilcanota river – flooded and washed them away. The regional president of Cusco, Hugo Gonzáles, said the supervisors were negligent and the workers lacked proper protection. Read more…

Peru donates aid to Chile following magnitude 8.8 earthquake

Presidential Cabinet Chief Javier Velásquez said Monday Peru is planning to send three planes to transport health professionals and humanitarian aid to assist neighboring Chile following the massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck that country early Saturday morning. The planes will also be used to repatriate Peruvians living in Chile who have been displaced. Read more…

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