An Amazon river dries up and the crossing becomes hell for the villagers

Today, only the youngest and strongest villagers dare to cross a huge, scorching hot strip of sand where the waters of the mighty Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon normally flow.

Residents of the village of Paraizinho – or “Little Paradise” – usually cross the river by canoe to reach the larger town of Humaita, a vital link to buy food and water, receive medical care and send their children to school.

In drier times, this is usually a short walk along a beach that becomes visible when the water level drops.

But as Brazil battles the worst drought in 70 years, the water masses continue to recede, leaving a strip of sand almost a kilometer long simmering in the oven at temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius.

“Every year it is worse. Last year more than half (of the river) dried up. This year it has dried up almost to the other side,” Reis Santos Vieira, a 69-year-old farmer, told AFP.

“And it is expected to get worse,” he added.

The Rio Madeira, a major tributary of the Amazon that stretches 3,300 kilometers through Brazil and Bolivia, reached its lowest level this week since monitoring began in 1967, according to the Brazilian Geological Survey (SGB).

“A very difficult time”

Experts are blaming climate change for Brazil's historic drought. The drought has sparked wildfires in the Amazon and elsewhere in the country, leaving major cities shrouded in smoke.

Most of the day the dry riverbed turns into an inferno underfoot.

The 100 or so residents of Paraizinho “have to walk along the beach to transport the food and water we need here. These are very difficult times,” complained Sandra Gomes Vieira.

Last year, during a drought, one of her daughters burned her foot while crossing the riverbed. Since sand appeared this year, she has refused to go to school.

“My sister is being treated for cancer and cannot go to the city. The health workers come to her house. I am not feeling very well either, but I still manage to get there,” said Gomes.

Five community volunteers recently carried barefoot containers of drinking water from Humaita to Paraizinho, which previously could easily be transported across the river by canoe.

“Here we only have the help of these people. Only them and God,” said Francisca de Chaga da Silva, one of the water recipients.

Community leader Joao Ferreira said the water would go to “the most vulnerable families, including patients with hypertension and diabetes.”

Given the water shortage, residents treat river water with chlorine to bathe and wash dishes or clothes.

“More smoke”

The ongoing drought is also affecting economic activities in Paraizinho, especially fishing and the sale of agricultural products.

“The beach has grown a lot. Before, there were only two or three months of drought, now it's four, five months,” Ferreira said.

Communities along the Madeira River – a key route for trade in soybeans, fish and fuel – are struggling. Some areas that also depend on Humaita are even worse off than Paraizinho, villagers say, as they are even further away.

In other parts of the Amazon region, heavy fires have also brought a cloud of smoke over the village and the surrounding area.

Authorities blame most of the country's recent fires on human activity, often linked to the clearing of land for agriculture.

The weather “is hotter this year. There is also more smoke,” said Sandra Gomes.

One of her daughters “has chest pains from the smoke. She didn't have this problem before.”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to announce measures to combat the effects of drought in the Amazon region during a visit to the city of Manaus on Tuesday.

© 2024 AFP