“I get to the balcony and see my saw,

the mountain range of my father and grandfather

of all the Andrades who passed

and they will pass, the mountain that does not pass.

It was an Indian thing and we took it

to adorn and preside over life

in this gloomy valley where wealth

greater is your sight and behold it”

Carlos Drummond de Andrade – The pulverized mountain

When you close your eyes and imagine the city of Socorro, it is likely that many remember the Matriz tower and a city nestled in the valley of a river. But all the images remembered will certainly have a hill in the background that has an image of Christ at the top.

The landscape is always a heritage, said the geographer Aziz Ab'Saber, and in this sense it is the collective heritage of the peoples who inherited it as the territory of their communities.

All Socorro residents inherited Morro do Cristo as the main landmark in their landscape. It was at his feet that the city was founded, it is from his viewpoint that we can see it completely and it is on the paths of the city that he points, making himself visible from several streets and several intersections: Predominating over the buildings.

However, in addition to inheriting Morro do Cristo as an image and representation of our identity as Socorrenses, we also inherited it with a certain topography, soil, hydrology and environment.

Today we have the Morro do Cristo as a great ally for the quality of life in the city. The main streams in the central area of Socorro are born from it and its preserved vegetation helps the water to be absorbed by the soil, preventing the rains from dragging the pollution to the Peixe River.

From this perspective, it is clear that Morro do Cristo is important for ALL residents of Socorro, collectively, and that thinking about their destiny is the role of all citizens, with equal weight between downtown and neighborhood residents.

But after all, what do we want for this area?

Currently, Morro do Cristo is classified as a residential area in the city's zoning, but it is NOT SUITABLE FOR URBANIZATION AND THERE ARE RISKS RELATED TO ITS OCCUPATION.

In 2002, the Ministry of the Environment of the State of São Paulo, in partnership with the Geological Service of Brazil, executed the “Geoenvironmental Atlas of the Hydrographic Basins of the Mogi-Guaçu and Pardo Rivers” and the “Geoenvironmental Zoning Chart of the Médio Pardo Region” . The Rio do Peixe and its tributaries are part of these basins and therefore Socorro was one of the analyzed municipalities.

In these documents, Morro do Cristo and Serra da Pompeia are classified with the highest level of fragility in the face of urbanization. The risks range from landslides, due to the high slope and shallow soils, risk of reduced flow from springs that emerge from ancient waters that infiltrated the hill, in addition to the risk of contamination of groundwater that is found inside rocks. with fractures near the surface of the land.

In view of all this, it is urgent to position Socorrenses in the destiny of this area, because preserving it does not simply mean doing a good deed, but building the city with intelligence. This stance should also be carried forward in the planning of the entire municipality.

We must collaborate so that Socorro does not follow the example of so many Brazilian metropolises, which, in the search for progress, ended up developing only backwardness.

We need to debate these issues.

For more information, visit Save the Morro do Cristo Facebook page and, if you agree with what is stated here and on the page, also sign the petition in favor of the conservation of Morro do Cristo.