Demonstrations are organized this weekend in the Maurienne valley (Savoie) by the Uprisings of the Earth to oppose the Lyon-Turin railway line project. What are the environmental activists denouncing? Should we be afraid of overflows?
New mobilization organized at the call of the Earth Uprisings this weekend. This time it is the Lyon-Turin tunnel construction project that the association denounces. The 140 km railway line which must be built between France and Italy and be operational by 2030 is described as a “massive destruction program” of the Alpine environment. The Earth Uprisings, supported by other organizations opposed to the Lyon-Turin project, therefore call for “international and popular mobilization” on June 17 and 18, 2023.
The precise place and the program of the mobilizations and demonstration against the Lyon-Turin project have yet to be defined by the organizers, but the French authorities are already expecting a large-scale movement and are making arrangements accordingly. The latest mobilizations made at the initiative of the Uprisings of the Earth have sometimes been the scene of overflows and nearly 4,000 people could go to the Lyon-Turin site, this Saturday and Sunday.
Where is the demonstration against the Lyon-Turin project taking place?
No specific location has been communicated by the Earth Uprisings who co-organize the mobilization with the Italian collective “No Tav”, a historical opponent of the Alpine rail tunnel. It is only indicated that the gathering will take place in the valley in the Maurienne, in Savoie. According to the intelligence services, “the zone of the base camp of the demonstration could extend between the lake of Tufs and the center of the ski resort La Norma”. Therefore the mobilizations should be held in the surrounding perimeter. The station next to the camp is only two kilometers from the Lyon-Turin site led by the company TELT (Tunnel Euralpin Lyon-Turin).
What are the dates of the demonstrations against the Lyon-Turin project?
The demonstrations and/or mobilizations of environmental activists and opponents of the Lyon-Turin project should begin on Saturday June 17 and continue on Sunday June 18. On the other hand, the participants in the rally are expected on site from Friday for the first arrivals. “The opening of a camp” where the demonstrators will settle for the two days of actions is planned for the day reports France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
How many demonstrators are expected on the Lyon-Turin site?
Several thousand people could take part in the demonstrations against the Lyon-Turin project this weekend, according to estimates by the intelligence services. In total, more than 4,000 environmental protesters are expected in the Maurienne valley and among them 400 radical elements, again according to the authorities. A thousand demonstrators could come from the Italian opposition to the rail project. To limit the arrival of demonstrators deemed radical, already 107 administrative bans from the territory have been issued against foreign activists has learned CNews.