Swiss environment minister rejects resettlement of Alpine valleys

Swiss Environment Minister Albert Rösti has rejected calls for people to be relocated from Alpine valleys due to storms. He said in an interview that this would mean people losing their familiar surroundings without knowing when and where the next disaster will happen. Check out our selection of newsletters. Subscribe here. In a densely populated country such as Switzerland, protective measures were a better solution "than forcing everyone into the cities or conurbations", Rösti said in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag. It could not be Switzerland's strategy to abandon entire valleys or villages, he said. More heat-related deaths were also to be expected in the future, he warned. The cities would have to adapt to this. "Nevertheless, we are not saying: you have to leave the city now," he said. He cited the Matte district in the city of Bern as another example. It had already been flooded several times without anyone being sent away. In future, there would be more zones in which ...