After the storm, calm reigns. On October 29, several thousand people – between 7,000 and 10,000 – demonstrated in Sainte-Soline, in Deux-Sèvres. Clashes erupted when activists wanted to enter the disputed site of a “mega basin” – a reservoir intended for agricultural irrigation – before being repelled by the police.
Faced with the scale of the mobilization and its media coverage, the authorities feared that demonstrators would settle permanently near the site, in a field lent nearby by a farmer opposed to this project, 2 km from the site. . “I want to say once again obviously our desire that no ZAD settle in Deux-Sèvres, as everywhere on the national territory”, had then declared the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. And to emphasize that “people stuck S to the ultra-left were spotted in this demonstration”.
Four squadrons still present on Monday
Eight days later, however, there is hardly anyone left on the scene. This Monday, four mobile gendarmerie squadrons, or about 440 soldiers, remained mobilized to prevent a ZAD from setting up. As was the case, for several years, in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, in Loire-Atlantique. “The law enforcement system will remain as long as necessary so that the site, whose legal obligations are respected, can take place”, assures moreover to 20 minutes the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres.
Still, the capitals installed for the demonstration ten days ago were dismantled on the land legally occupied by the activists. “The camp has been emptied”, confirms to 20 minutes Melissa, one of the spokespersons for the “Bassines Non Merci” collective.
A “base of support” to “continue to stop the construction site”.
“Everyone left on Tuesday morning [la semaine dernière],” adds Léna Lazare, from the collective “Les Uprisings of the Earth”. “The idea was to return his field to Philippe [le propriétaire], that we clean up all the rubbish before leaving, because there were thousands of people who came. Only remains, in the field, a watchtower made of wood and sheet metal, built by the opponents. “It was said in the media that we were going to make a ZAD. But we never thought we’d stay on this ground for very long, continues the young woman. It was just to have a camp, a rear base of action. We know that this is land that we will be able to reuse if the construction site resumes. »
In a press release published on October 29, the collective “Bassines Non Merci” also claimed to want to use this camp as a “base of support” to “continue to stop the site”.
“Various and varied actions”
Trucks and backhoe loaders have also left – for the moment – the construction site of the Sainte-Soline mega basin. But opponents of the project are not letting their guard down. They asked the government to stop work and a moratorium for “all water storage projects in France”. An “ultimatum” has been set for Wednesday, November 16. In case of refusal, they will call “for a new national mobilization”, warns Mélissa.
“For the moment, she told us, we have not yet decided collectively what we would do with the other organizations that participated in the last demonstration. All that will be decided in the next few days. We really want to make the state understand that we remain determined. As long as we are not heard, we will continue to mobilize, to carry out various and varied actions. »
On October 30, hooded activists, equipped with a grinder, shovels and pickaxes, severed an irrigation pipe that was supposed to supply the future water reserve. The two collectives also launched a “mass telephone action” last Friday, and called on activists and supporters to join the “companies that build the basin” on the phone to put pressure on them.