What caused the Puebla sinkhole: Conagua revealed possible causes

The National Water Commission (Conagua) published a report on the possible causes of the formation of the sinkhole located in the community of Santa María Zacatepec, in the municipality of Juan C. Bonilla, in the state of Puebla.

One of the main conclusions of the body is that the phenomenon was the product of a process of formation of caves or sinkholes, which obeys the dissolution of limestone rocks. These can eventually collapse or become clogged naturally and open later.

Conagua clarified that there is no evidence that the cause of the hole was overuse of the aquifer.

The report, prepared by the General Directorate of the Balsas Basin Agency, with the support of the Groundwater Management of the Technical Sub-Directorate General, specifies that in the sinkhole area, the groundwater has a higher temperature than in the rest of the aquifer, which suggests the upwelling of deep water towards the upper aquifer.

Too, piezometric levels of the aquifer in the traffic light fraction, static levels remain stable, similar and in some cases even higher than those reported in previous studies.

“The above indicates that there is no evidence of aquifer reduction; that is to say that there are no elements to establish a causal relation of the phenomenon of sinking starting from the process of variation of the levels of the aquifer “

On the other hand, the agency indicated that, according to the studies and the update published in the Official Journal of the Federation on September 17, 2020, the aquifer of the Puebla valley is still available, with which it is concluded that it “is not in a condition of overexploitation, let alone that this could be the cause of the geological accident of the sinkhole”.

“In this direction, It is considered that the studies initiated by various federal and state agencies within the framework of their competence, should focus primarily on the deeper geological and tectonic analysis of the area of ​​interest, ”the agency said.

On top of that, he reiterated his “Availability to continue to collaborate, within the framework of its competences, with the federal and state authorities involved in the treatment of this problem, in the strict respect of the technical and scientific evidence ”.

According to locals, several holes appeared a few kilometers from the main trough. The openings are not large, although they are a little deep.

However, according to the findings, this is simply a task of a company in the region, who intentionally made the holes to exclude possible damage to the Morelos gas pipeline.

The phenomenon is located five kilometers from the industrial area of ​​Huejotzingo and very close to the Hermanos Serdán airport, an area with flooding problems.

As, Ana Lucia Hill Mayoral, secretary of the government of Puebla, for a few days monitor the territory where the natural phenomenon occurred, and reiterated that in the presence of cracks and fractures near the site, a security ring has been set up led by officials from the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), the National Guard and Civil Protection, to avoid risks for the population.

“We watched him. For a few days we shared with you that there were some extra cracks and this is one of them. We constantly monitor and guarantee together with other agencies, Public security, Sedena, National Guard and Civil Protection, all working to ensure that the security perimeter is respected, ”he said at a press conference on June 16.

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