Environmental impact studies on the paving of the BR 158 highway in 2007 and its consequences after 15 years

Abstract

This article deals, in particular, with the stretch of the BR 158 highway that passes through a part of the region of the state of Mato Grosso, the Vale do Araguaia, also known as one of the soy export corridors of Brazilian agribusiness. Such a highway, in that state, took 30 years to have its asphalt coverage almost complete, however, until the present day, 2022, there is still a lack of 210 km that surround indigenous lands. The objective of this study is to analyze whether the problems indicated by the 2007 environmental impact report, on the occasion of the paving of the BR 158 MT, had an immediate solution by the public authorities. Bibliographical and documentary consultations were used, as well as interviews with truck drivers, with the DNIT regional coordinator, businessmen, advisors and municipal secretaries, which were collected in four municipalities: Barra do Garças, Água Boa, Canarana and Confresa which are along the highway, in Mato Grosso. When analyzing the documents, the reports of the territorial actors and observing what really happened, it is noted that the lack of resources, combined with the population's pressure for paving and the problems indicated in the environmental impact report, did not have good follow-up by the government throughout the period.