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IN PICTURES: Clashes as thousands protest French agro-industry water ‘grab’

Thousands of demonstrators defied an official ban to march on Saturday against the deployment of new water storage infrastructure for agricultural irrigation in western France, some clashing with police.

Protesters hold a banner reading
Protesters hold a banner reading "We are not defending water, We are the water defending itself" during a demonstration against a giant water retention basin project in Sainte-Soline, western France, on October 30, 2022.  (Photo: Pascal Lachenaud / AFP)

Clashes between paramilitary gendarmes and demonstrators erupted with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reporting that 61 officers had been hurt, 22 seriously.

“Bassines Non Merci”, which organised the protest, said around 30 demonstrators had been injured. Of them, 10 had to seek medical treatment and three were hospitalised.

Protesters march from a gathering site during the demonstration against the giant water retention basin project on October 30, 2022. (Photo by Pascal Lachenaud / AFP)

The pressure group brings together environmental associations, trade unions and anti-capitalist groups against what it claims is a “water grab” by the “agro-industry” in western France.

Local officials said six people were arrested during the protest and that 4,000 people had turned up for the banned demonstration. Organisers put the turnout at 7,000.

The deployment of giant water “basins” is underway in the village of Sainte-Soline, in the Deux-Sevres department, to irrigate crops, which opponents claim distorts access to water amid drought conditions.

Around 1,500 police were deployed, according to the prefect of the Deux-Sevres department Emmanuelle Dubee.

Protesters dismantle an outdoor water pipe during the demo. (Photo by Pascal Lachenaud / AFP)
 
Dubee said on Friday she had wanted to limit possible “acts of violence”, referring to the clashes between demonstrators and security forces that marred a previous rally in March.

The Sainte-Soline water reserve is the second of 16 such installations, part of a project developed by a group of 400 farmers organised in a water cooperative to significantly reduce mains water usage in summer.

Protesters hold a banner reading “Agro-industry cooperatives are attempting to help themselves to water” during the protest. (Photo by Pascal Lachenaud / AFP) 

The open-air craters, covered with a plastic tarpaulin, are filled by pumping water from surface groundwater in winter and can store up to 650,000 square metres of water.

This water is used for irrigation in summer, when rainfall is scarcer.

Opponents claim the “megabasins” are wrongly reserved for large export-oriented grain farms and deprive the community of access to the essential resource.

 
 

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PROTESTS

Quarter million protest in France against far right: police

Some 250,000 people took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest the rise of the far right after their success in European polls prompted President Emmanuel Macron to call legislative elections, police said.

Quarter million protest in France against far right: police

In Paris, police estimated 75,000 people had responded to a call from unions, associations and a new left-wing political coalition formed for the parliamentary elections.

The CGT union put the figure at 640,000 protesters at a total of 182 rallies including 250,000 in Paris.

From Bayonne in the southwest to Nice in the southeast, from Vannes in the west to Reims in the east, demonstrators mobilised against the prospect of a victory for the far right in the legislative elections.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: Hundreds of thousands protest against far right in France

If that were to happen, National Rally (RN) party leader Jordan Bardella could become prime minister.

The RN enjoyed a healthy lead in recent election polls.

“I thought I would never see the far right come to power and now it could happen,” said Florence David, 60, who took part in the Paris protest.

“No need to vote RN to love France,” was among the slogans used.

The marches took place mostly in calm, but police arrested 20 people, including nine in Paris.

Five police officers were lightly injured in the protests.

There were brief episodes of tension in Rennes and Nantes in western France where a few dozen hard-left activists were pushed back by the police with tear gas.

In Paris, street infrastructure was damaged and two bank branches were targeted by hooded protesters.

Police in the capital were also the target of thrown bottles, to which they responded with tear gas, AFP correspondents said.

Some 21,000 members of the security forces were deployed across France.

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