The report shows that only 3% of the country's dams were questioned | New

Brazil has more than 24,000 dams. According to the latest report of the National Water Agency, published in November 2018, there would have been an increase compared to 2016. But the agency estimates that this number is three times higher, because most of the country's dams have not been registered yet.

Of the dams listed in the report, most are intended for irrigation, animal consumption, fish farming, and water supply. There are 790 dams for tailings containment, like the one that broke out on Friday (25).

A disturbing fact is that more than 40% of these structures are irregular, that is, they do not have any type of authorization, subsidy or subsidy. operating license. A total of 31 state and federal agencies are involved in monitoring. That sounds like a lot, but if you add up all the employees in these organizations, there are only 154 across the country.

To make matters worse, only 20 of these agencies conducted surveys in 2017. As a result, inspections only reached 3% of the country's dams. At this rate, it would take 30 years for all dams registered in Brazil to be inspected at least once.

"We have obvious deficiencies in surveillance, I speak at the federal and state levels, people are missing, so it is necessary to compose the budget tables and give cars and planes, helicopters, so that They can carry out the taxing effectively, "says Alberto Sayão, professor of geotechnical engineering at PUC-Rio.

JN: Is it possible to completely eliminate the risk of a problem? accident involving a dam?

Alberto Sayão: No. There is none, there is no zero risk engineering structure, there will always be It's a cost problem. "How much do you want to pay to improve, lower the risk."

Shortly after the Mariana (MG) tragedy, federal agencies doubled the number of inspections. in 2017, they fell dramatically, due to the reduction in the number of opera- of the National Mines Agency.

According to the report of the National Water Agency, 723 dams were clbadified at the same time as posing a high risk and the potentially high damage that ensues.

The National Dam Safety Policy states that all structures with high potential for damage must have an emergency action plan, but that 75% of those who need to plan in the country do not have an emergency plan. Do not have one yet.

In 2016, after the tragedy of Mariana, a Senate commission created to debate the issue concluded that the inspection was flawed. From there, a bill was introduced to make the dam safety policy more rigorous. But the proposal was not voted. In the House, five projects on the subject are on hold.

"Legislation is fundamental, so you have to learn from mistakes and take a stand to prevent them from happening again, and you obviously tighten up the application a bit, and it improves." The increase in punishment improves because the professional who agrees to do something will think twice before doing so, so there are several aspects that can be improved in the sense of greater in this type of project, "says Maurício Erlich, professor of civil engineering at Coppe / UFRJ.