“Cut cables”, doors torn off, or blocked by hindrances. According Waterways of France (VNF), six locks on the Canal du Midi have been “damaged by malicious acts since mid-April”. The latest sabotages took place in Aude, in the town of Mas-Saintes-Puelles, but also for the first time in Haute-Garonne, in Avignonet-Lauragais, during the long weekend of May 1st. They had the immediate effect of hampering navigation, although technicians were immediately dispatched to repair parts and damage. For the moment the damage is “estimated at 5,000 euros”.
The manager, especially worried about the tourist repercussions of these serial stops “condemns such vandalism which damages public infrastructures and therefore can harm all users of the Canal du Midi, a listed jewel of our heritage”. VNF has also systematically lodged a complaint with the gendarmerie. “Against X”, specifies a spokesperson, leaving the investigations to follow their course.
Tags then nothing
The first damage to the lock on 14 April, already at Mas-Saintes-Puelles, coincides with a farmers protest of the FDSEA of Aude who, affected by irrigation restrictions, pointed to a “conflict of use” and asked for a postponement of the opening to navigation of the canal. During the following three episodes, tags related to the drought were found. But for the sabotages of the 1er-Mai bridge, no inscription was found on the outskirts.
VNF awaits the conclusions of the investigations without prejudging their results. But the organization specifies that it “is committed to acting for the preservation of the resource and to consolidating, with all the actors of the water of the basin, the multi-uses of water for the benefit of the environments. natural resources and all human activities”.