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TRANSPORT

French prosecutors probe foul air claims in Paris metro

Prosecutors in Paris have opened a criminal investigation into allegations that pollution in the capital's metro system is putting travellers' lives at risk, an NGO and authorities said on Wednesday.

Published: 5 April 2023 16:39 CEST
French prosecutors probe foul air claims in Paris metro
Commuters walk along a platform at the Gare de l'Est metro station in Paris (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

Metro operator RATP is being investigated for possible trickery and causing involuntary injuries following claims that it deliberately under-reports pollution levels and fails to inform passengers about the dangers.

“It’s time to lift the veil of silence and that the RATP tells the truth to users,” the head of the Respire (Breathe) campaign group, Tony Renucci, said in a statement that announced the opening of a criminal probe, which was confirmed by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

The charity, which lobbies for clean air, filed a legal complaint in 2021 after carrying out two separate monitoring investigations.

It accuses the RATP of being aware of the pollution problems for the last two decades.

In June last year, French public health watchdog Anses concluded that levels of toxic fine particulate matter were on average three times higher inside the metro than outside.

Of particular concern were particles generated from braking, while pollution was only monitored in three stations across the whole 309-stop network, Anses said.

The RATP said that air quality was a “priority” and it had an “ambitious action plan” to tackle pollution, which includes installing high-performance fans and electric braking systems which reduce pollution.

An estimated 40,000 premature deaths occur in France each year due to air pollution, according to public health figures.

READ MORE: Will people really be able to swim in Paris’ Seine river in 2024?

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ENVIRONMENT

Homes evacuated as floods hit village in French Alps

More than 50 people had to be evacuated from their homes in a village in the French Alps as violent storms struck the south-east of the country.

Published: 26 June 2024 11:33 CEST
Homes evacuated as floods hit village in French Alps

Less than four years after storm Alex struck the Boréon area of the Alpes-Maritimes département in September 2020, leading to 10 deaths, it was once again hit by severe weather, as the storms combined with high-altitude snow melt caused the Vésubie river to burst its banks.

The 1,400-population village of Saint-Martin-Vésubie, which was cut off from the rest of the country by the devastating 2020 storm, was again affected by severe weather.

Thierry Ingigliardi, the village’s deputy mayor in charge said: “Everything is being destroyed, we’re suffering the loss of roads yet again.” 

As a precaution, 52 people, including four children, were evacuated to a community hall.

But there was some confusion over the scale of damage caused by the flooding, after current Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, saying that bridges had been washed away in the flooding. 

“None of the bridges are threatened, two fords have been washed away,” Gaël Nofri, deputy mayor of Nice, clarified on the social network.

But at least two bridges have been damaged, leaving around 20 homes cut off, while two other structures are still ‘under surveillance’, as the local council reported earlier. The latter also deplored “temporary infrastructures that are not holding”.

Hugues Moutouh, prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes region, told BFMTV: “Everyone is annoyed (…) It’s been going on for months now, we’re using temporary structures.”

Moutouh says he did not want “to come here again to see how powerless we are” when seasonal storms known as épisodes méditerranéens return in autumn. 

The storms in the Alps led to ‘once-in-a-century’ flooding in the Vaud canton of Switzlerand. Around one month’s rain fall fell in just an hour and caused major flooding in the town of Morges, which stands on the banks of Lake Geneva.

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