THE PHENOMENON OF GULLIES AND THE RIGHT TO HOUSING IN BURITICUPU, MARANHÃO: AN ANALYSIS OF MUNICIPAL DECREE NO. 002/2025

Abstract

 The municipality of Buriticupu, in western Maranhão, Brazil, faces severe socio-environmental vulnerability due to the spread of gullies, an erosive process that, over about thirty years, has destroyed approximately 70 homes, affected 180 families and caused seven deaths, with 26 active erosion sites mapped. In response, Municipal Decree No. 002/2025 declared a state of public calamity. This article analyzes the effectiveness of this instrument in protecting the fundamental rights to housing and property (Arts. 1, III; 5, XXII and XXIII; and 6 of the Federal Constitution). It is a bibliographic and documentary study, using a deductive method and a quantitative-qualitative approach, which examines State action in preventing, mitigating and repairing damage in light of Law No. 12,608/2012 and Robert Alexy’s proportionality rule. It concludes that the decree is legally valid and necessary, but of limited practical effectiveness, given its dependence on external funding, administrative bureaucracy and the lack of structural planning, which calls for continuous and integrated public policies for prevention, resettlement and environmental recovery.