the Sainte-Soline site under close police surveillance

Up to 10,000 opponents of the mega-basin project are expected on Saturday March 25 in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres). nearly 3,000 members of security forces are mobilized near the site, because the authorities have banned this gathering. The activists still managed to regroup on a large field lent by a farmer. The tractors arrived to cheers. Their objective is to join in force the site of Sainte-Soline where water reserves are under construction.

The presence of 1,500 dreaded radical activists

Drawn from groundwater, the water is then dedicated to agricultural irrigation. But the demonstrators oppose it in the name of sharing this resource, which is becoming increasingly rare. “6% of farmers are monopolizing water in the departments of Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. It’s scandalous”protests a man present on the spot.

In the current context of social protest, access to the department is controlled. According to the prefecture, 1,500 radical activists could mingle with the demonstrators. Three processions of activists must converge on the site of the basins in the afternoon.