Procida suffocates in fumes, but the law sleeps until June 15. But then the controls?

Leo Pugliese | The windows have been open for weeks. The heat has exploded well in advance, as it has been for years now, but the air that enters the houses is not the salty and light one would expect on an island. It is heavy, unbreathable air, filled with the acrid smell of fumes rising from vegetable gardens, gardens and agricultural lands, where someone continues undauntedly to burn brushwood, dry leaves and plant residues.

And while citizens are holed up at home – or worse, end up in hospital for respiratory crises caused by these fires – the law remains immobile, crystallized in a symbolic and ineffective date: June 15, the day on which the so-called period of serious danger for forest fires comes into force. But what does this date mean for those who live on an island like Procida? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Because here, among narrow houses, small plots of land and gardens bordering the homes, there is no safety distance that allows someone to burn without disturbing others. Every fire lit is a direct attack on public health. And yet, until June 15, everything seems tolerated. Unheard of.

In recent years, there have been documented cases of citizens forced to go to the emergency room for inhaling these toxic fumes. So we are not talking about temporary inconveniences, but a real risk to health, especially for those suffering from respiratory diseases, the elderly, children. And despite this, the problem recurs punctually every year, like a script already written to which we have sadly become accustomed. Welcome to the bans, welcome to the regional decree that, in black and white, prohibits the lighting of fires, the burning of brushwood, the use of flying lanterns and fireworks within a kilometer of wooded areas. These are sacrosanct measures. But on their own they are not enough. Because a ban is not a ban if no one enforces it, if there are no controls, if the sanctions remain on paper.

Procida, like its neighbor Ischia, is a particular reality, small, densely populated, where private greenery often borders homes. The same logic that applies to the large rural areas of the hinterland cannot be applied. Here, every fire is a direct attack on the community. Yet, reports often fall on deaf ears, the authorities intervene late or not at all, and citizens feel – rightly – abandoned.

It's time to change our approach. We need a serious review of the timing: we can no longer wait until mid-June to recognize a risk that manifests itself in May, if not April. We need a local prevention plan that takes into account the specific territorial and climatic conditions. And above all, we need a control system that works, because if the bans are not enforced, they become just waste paper.

The right to breathe clean air cannot be subordinated to a calendar. It cannot depend on the sensitivity – or ignorance – of the neighbor. It is a fundamental right. And when the law does not protect it promptly, it becomes an accomplice to the problem. Procida, like many other territories in Campania, cannot wait any longer. A change of pace is needed. Now.