The major demonstration against the Lyon-Turin high-speed rail line was maintained on Saturday June 17 in the Maurienne valley (Savoie), departing from the base camp located outside the prohibition zone drawn by the authorities.
Some 2,000 activists, according to estimates by the authorities, began marching through the valley at the call of a dozen organizations, including the Uprisings of the Earth, threatened with dissolution by the Ministry of the Interior, and the No Italian TAVs, to protest against this “pharaonic” construction site deemed “harmful” for the environment, biodiversity and water resources.
“We are all eco-terrorists,” some shout, as herds of cows watch the colorful parade pass by in many blue outfits – the dress code of the protest, complete with flags and “The mountain is rising” banners. Some are hooded in black, others wear helmets, snowshoes or umbrellas – useful against drones, smoke bombs or law enforcement assaults.
“Today is a historic moment in this valley (…) there are a lot of people from all over France, Italy, even Switzerland”, rejoices Philippe Delhomme, former local elected official who has been campaigning for years with the association Vivre et act en Maurienne.
Strong police presence
“We are very happy with this mobilization which was a difficult bet to take (…), we will not let ourselves be intimidated (…), it is here that there is the future and not in a deadly project and completely overtaken by history, “said Lorenzo, of the Italian No TAV movement, mobilized for years against the project led by Brussels.
Settled in the meadows, on land loaned by the municipality of La Chapelle, the campers, many of them young people, woke up on Saturday under the surveillance of a gendarmerie helicopter. Some 2,000 police and gendarmes have been deployed in this border valley with Italy, famous for its major ski resorts.
The prohibition order issued by the prefecture of Savoie was confirmed for security reasons by the administrative court of Grenoble, which on Friday evening rejected a request filed by the Greens (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, EELV), ATTAC Savoie and Living and acting in Maurienne.
However, elected officials made the trip to speak, including the EELV mayor of Grenoble Eric Piolle, the president of the “rebellious” deputies Mathilde Panot or the deputy (EELV) of Isère Cyrielle Chatelain. “The demonstration has been banned on a perimeter, we will demonstrate elsewhere,” said the mayor of Grenoble in a tweet.
The police, who are expecting up to 5,000 activists including some “400 radical elements”, especially fear punching actions from small refractory groups, according to a police source. About thirty “foreigners under administrative ban from the territory were arrested and handed over to the Italians”, according to the same source.
Cost estimated at more than 26 billion euros
“It’s still quite scandalous, funny that the state and the government decide to attack a movement, environmental activists, peasants, trade unions when today we should really attack to all industries, to all those who destroy the living, who are making us die of heat,” said Pina, the spokesperson for the Uprisings of the Earth, during the speeches.
“The promoters of these great devastating works can meet as they want, at our expense, eating toast and drinking champagne, while the opponents cannot show their displeasure”, added Lorenzo of No TAV.
Supported by the European Union, the new line should eventually connect Lyon and Turin, with 70% of the tracks in France and 30% in Italy and a 57.5 km tunnel crossing the Alps between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Susa. Estimated cost: more than 26 billion euros.
For the boss of Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, “we are faced with the absolute contradiction of extremist environmental activists. They supposedly want to save the planet but they don’t want to give themselves the means: we won’t save the planet by doing degrowth”, he commented on Friday morning on BFM-TV / RMC.
Proponents of the project highlight the need to reduce the flow of heavy goods vehicles, which is constantly increasing, to limit greenhouse gas emissions. They also point to the economic development that they believe a faster rail line will allow.
Opponents argue that a line already exists and that rail freight has been falling steadily in recent years. They also denounce the ecological impacts of this “titanic railway project, involving the drilling of 260 kilometers of galleries through the Alpine massifs”. According to them, the work has already dried up several springs and catchments in the valley.
