The mobilization is planned for the 47th edition of the Vogalonga, which takes place tomorrow. The decision was unanimously adopted by 39 rowing associations at the end of an assembly in the Pescheria at Rialto.
By Alberto Vitucci
27 May 2023
The voga veneta boats will be flying white flags and will start half an hour later (at 9:30) tomorrow at the Vogalonga to protest against moto ondoso. This is the first protest initiative launched by the committees and associations dedicated to rowing and sailing Vela al Terzo that make up Gruppo Insieme. At the end of a crowded assembly in the Pescheria at Rialto Thursday evening, the decision was approved unanimously.
Protest a Return to the Roots of the Vogalonga
It will be a protest on the day of the rowing exhibition that was born in the mid-1970s as a protest against moto ondoso, which of course was nothing then compared to the disaster of today. At the well-attended assembly, where the requests that have been made to the administration were repeated, and collected by Debora Onisto, president of the Transportation commission at Ca’ Farsetti. The situation is increasingly dangerous, and now Gruppo Insieme, which brings together 39 rowing and sailing associations – and even a motor boating group, the “Fie a manetta” – has moved to action.
“The half-hour delay in departure for all of the watercraft of the rowing associations is meant to prolong the respite in the bacino San Marco” said the committee spokesmen.
The Referendum on Water Traffic
The next initiative: a self-managed referendum on water traffic in the fall. The mobilization will continue this summer, to continue raising the awareness of the authorities and the city about a problem that is assuming worrying dimensions.
On the day of the ACTV strike there was widespread chaos. Freeway traffic in the Canal Grande and the internal canals. Wild waves in the lagoon, in particular towards Certosa Sant’Elena and at Fondamente Nuove. Taxis ran at top speed – with rare exceptions – without any surveillance.
Boats even had trouble filling up with fuel at the Sacca Misericordia station because of the waves. Zero oversight. “We haven’t seen one police boat today,” charged a group of citizens. The deregulation also worries the gondoliers. “The law of the strongest rules the canals now,” attacked a representative from the category, “we have to do something”.
Interventions by the Municipality: Promised and Never Done
However, interventions are late in arriving. The approval of a new monitoring system has been awaited for some time, after legal appeals from business groups caused the ready and already functioning Argos system to be scrapped.
We’re still waiting for GPS to be mandatory, as it already is for ACTV and Alilaguna, but not for the other boats in public service. But most of all for oversight that just doesn’t exist.
Average speeds have increased drastically in recent years. High waves invade the canals and fondamentas, endangering the foundations of the palazzi and navigation for public transportation. But there are no breaks and no controls.
And so, the situation worsens daily. It’s risky now to go out in a rowboat, but it’s just as treacherous in traditional small motorboats. There are no controls, not even in the main navigation corridors that every week bring to the islands – in particular to Burano – thousands of tourists on board tour boats, taxis and the ACTV boats themselves.
The danger this causes goes hand in hand with the damage being wrought upon the lagoon, without which nobody moves. The waves being produced destroy the sandbars and erode the lagoon floor, transporting the sediments out to sea and accelerating the lagoon’s destruction. Urgent interventions are needed. In the meantime, the traffic situation is now out of control – the business of tourism is the priority, and the faster you run the more you earn. If the city collapses, oh well.
Source: La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre
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