Surrounded by garbage just 15 minutes away from the luxurious buildings of Puerto Madero, 3,000 families survive among waste, floods, and the lack of basic services in Villa Inflamable, a popular neighborhood in the south of Buenos Aires that exposes the social fracture of the Argentinian capital.
With more than 100 years of history, this area encapsulates a sanitary and housing crisis that is repeated in the 6,460 popular neighborhoods of the country.
The invisible postcard of Buenos Aires
While the downtown area of Buenos Aires displays historic domes and modern towers, Villa Inflamable borders the Riachuelo and the Canal Sarandí, courses of contaminated water that shape its geography.
The neighborhood, bordered by the Río de la Plata, faces aggravated environmental risks: weeks ago, its waters turned red due to unidentified toxic spills. According to data from the Public Defense Ministry, 80% of its inhabitants lack access to sewers and drinking water, relying on informal networks or purchased jerry cans.
Surrounded by garbage: an open-air health hazard
Stagnant lagoons are the symbol of the emergency. Functioning as open-air sewers, they accumulate human waste and garbage, generating infection hotspots. “We don’t have sewers: everything goes into the houses. In summer, the smell is unbearable; there are rats, mosquitoes, and cockroaches,” recounts a resident. Recurrent floods —caused by the lack of drainage— carry contaminated water into homes, causing respiratory, skin, and bone diseases. “You get sick with asthma, bronchitis, or bone issues,” explains a resident.
Surviving between community kitchens and jerry cans
Angélica, a mother of a five-year-old boy, embodies community resilience. In her home, she cooks weekly for 75 families in a neighborhood dining room. “Sometimes more people come, but it’s not enough. It’s not that we don’t want to give: we don’t have,” she confesses. Access to drinking water remains critical: “The one that arrives is not suitable for drinking. It comes out yellow or smelling like chlorine. If I don’t have money to buy jerry cans, I can’t,” adds another resident.
The institutional debt in the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin
Although the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority (ACUMAR) —a tripartite entity between the Nation, Province, and municipalities— should guarantee sanitation, residents denounce paralyzed works. “The same problems are repeated throughout the basin,” states a testimony. CNAE consulted the authorities about the lack of services, but still awaits responses.
Living on the fringes of progress
“Here, people let themselves die. There is no quality of life: we live off community kitchens and aid,” summarizes a resident. With houses built around putrid lagoons and flooded streets, Villa Inflamable is a mirror of inequality in a city that looks the other way. While Puerto Madero expands vertically, this neighborhood struggles not to sink into oblivion.
